AS THE (SUSTAINABLE!) CORK TURNS • USING A PROFILE GAUGE • HERE’S THE SCOOP!
AMERICAN
WOODTURNER
Journal of the American Association of Woodturners
June 2024 vol 39, no 3 • woodturner.org
VISCERAL SIMPLICITY: THE BOLD WORK OF
RUBEN VAN DER SCHEER
MARIA VAN KESTEREN:
VARIATIONS ON A THEME
THE LIFE-INSPIRED
CREATIONS OF RON GERTON
GLorinBrückin
GALLERY
Conques-sur-Orbiel, France
When I discovered woodturning as a way of creating and conveying
stories, it immediately became apparent to me to include different
materials along with wood. I wanted to study the narrative potential that could arise from such combinations—especially because I
don’t like leaving the wood alone. Materials such as copper, zinc, or
stone—already part of my daily life as a plumber—have gradually
found their way into my work.
Initially, my creations were in the realm of everyday objects such
as boxes, trays, and candlesticks. But then my work evolved to
include sculptures, often spherical shapes with natural or Nordic
influences. The addition of hammered metal increasingly became
the guiding principle of my explorations, always with the aim of
giving the illusion that the metal is hidden under the wood.
Follow Lorin on Instagram, @lorinbruckin.
Brick, 2021, Elm (turned and burnt),
worn pieces of terracotta brick eroded
by river current, earth/oil joint mixture,
oil, 10" (25cm) diameter
Column, 2024, Century-old oak barn beam,
shale, earth/oil joint mixture, oil finish,
12" × 8" × 8" (30cm × 20cm × 20cm)
Sous la Croute (Under the Crust), 2023, Ash burl (burnt and carved), red
wine stain, hammered and heated copper inserts, 6" (15cm) diameter
American Woodturner June 2024
GALLERY
Cévennes, 2020, Cedar (turned and
burnt), stone, oil, 9½" (24cm)
Cévennes is a tribute to my native
region in the South of France. It is
a mountainous area where people
have altered the landscape by
building terraced walls with shale
to cultivate the land.
Crack, 2022, Wood, hammered
zinc from old gutters, earth/oil
joint mixture, copper, oil finish, 8"
(20cm) diameter
Boule de Canton Cuivre (Copper
Canton Ball), 2022, Ash burl,
hammered copper, oil, pigment,
7" (18cm) diameter
(Left) Oak Runes, 2020,
Oak, zinc, 6¼" (16cm)
diameter
(Right) Runes, 2020, Wood,
zinc, 6¼" (16cm) diameter
The Runes series,
comprising turned wood
spheres adorned with zinc
inserts, is my personal
interpretation of the
Viking runes engraved on
Scandinavian stelae.
woodturner.org
1
Dedicated to providing education,
information, and organization to those
interested in woodturning
American Woodturner (ISSN 0895-9005)
is published bimonthly by:
American Association of Woodturners
222 Landmark Center, 75 5th St W
Saint Paul, MN 55102-7704
Periodicals postage paid at Saint Paul, MN,
and at additional mailing offices.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
American Woodturner, AAW
222 Landmark Center, 75 5th St W
Saint Paul, MN 55102-7704
Inside This Issue
June 2024 vol 39, no 3
F E AT U R E S
Using a Profile Gauge
20 Terry
Martin demonstrates the usefulness of this
handy accessory.
the Scoop! (No Special Chucks Needed)
22 Here’s
Using a wood scoop you made yourself to measure out
the morning coffee is an ever-satisfying ritual. Bill Kram
shows how to make them without the need for a
specially made chuck.
office: 651-484-9094
toll free: 877-595-9094
email: memberservices@woodturner.org
website: woodturner.org
gallery website: galleryofwoodart.org
Executive Director
Marketing and
Communications Director
Curator
Jennifer Newberg
Accent Light with Open-Segmented Base
26 “Galaxy”
Rolland “Kip” Stratton shows a simple approach to open
Matt Brubaker
Tib Shaw
AAW BOARD OF DIRECTORS
segmenting to create a lovely accent piece that makes a
hand-blown glass orb really shine.
Designs with CAD Before Turning
32 Visualize
Using reputable software that can be acquired free of charge,
President
Vice President
Treasurer
Secretary
Mike Summerer
Ron Day
Chuck Lobaito
Linda Britt
Board Members
Jay Brown
Sally Burnett
Kimberly Winkle
KC Kendall
Reid Zimmerman
Smoke a Bowl (Literally)!
34 Instructor
Beth Ireland shares her discovery that turned
John Hill
Jean LeGwin
Dale Larson
David Wahl
Margaret Lospinuso
Louis Vadeboncoeur
the (Sustainable!) Cork Turns
36 As
Yes, cork grows on trees and is a sustainable resource. It is
Board of Advisors
Yearly General membership in the American
Association of Woodturners is $74 and includes
a subscription to American Woodturner. Dues for
international members are equivalent to
USA amounts before exchange rates are applied.
All electronic-journal memberships are
$60 yearly or USA equivalent.
Send dues to:
American Association of Woodturners
222 Landmark Center
75 5th St W
St. Paul, MN 55102-7704 USA
Ron Giordano shows the benefits of designing with CAD,
including a link to a free CAD tutorial download.
items can be embellished using a meat smoker.
also an excellent material for turning, by Scott Hendricks.
Life-Inspired Creations of Ron Gerton
41 The
Drawing from work experience and an appreciation for nature,
Ron Gerton creates surprising works using a variety of materials,
by Jerry Johnson.
46 Visceral Simplicity: The Bold
Work of Ruben van der Scheer
Dedicated to experimenting with simple forms and materials,
Dutch woodturner Ruben van der Scheer achieves elevated
results, by Steve Loar.
Or join online at woodturner.org
Printed in the USA by Quad/Graphics, West Allis, WI
© 2024 American Association of Woodturners
van Kesteren: Variations on a Theme
52 AMaria
snapshot of this widely influential Dutch turner who
mentored Ruben van der Scheer, by art historian
Thimo te Duits.
2
American Woodturner June 2024
woodturner.org
EDITORIAL
Journal of the American Association of Woodturners
A SSO C I AT I O N N E W S
4 Editor’s Note
6 Apply for an AAW Grant
6 Call for
Joshua Friend
4 President’s Letter
Demonstrators:
AAW Symposium 2025
Mike Summerer
5 AAW’s 39th Annual
International
Woodturning Symposium
7 Join the AAW Legacy Society
7 Our Heartfelt Thanks,
Portland Symposium
Sponsors and Exhibitors!
6 2025 POP ARTIST
SHOWCASE OPPORTUNITY
Creative Woodturning
Projects,
by Richard Findley
@
12 SkillsUSA Utah Holds Third-Annual
High School Woodturning Contest
14 AAW WIT Wig Stand Initiative—
One Year Later
15 Calendar of Events
16 Tips
GALLERY
1 Gallery
Lorin Brückin
71 Advertising Index
Joshua Friend
editor@woodturner.org
Editorial
Advisors
Betty Scarpino
Terry Martin
Jean LeGwin
Journal
Production
Plaid Moose Creative
Linnea Overbeck
Art Director
Production Management
Woodturning
Don McIvor
FUNdamentals editormcivor@woodturner.org.
EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONS
Send article ideas to: editor@woodturner.org
For tips on article submission and photography
requirements, visit tiny.cc/AWsubmissions*.
MEMBER SERVICES
For address changes or journals
damaged or lost in the mail:
Contact the AAW office at
memberservices@woodturner.org or call
651-484-9094 or 877-595-9094 (toll free).
Index to previous articles:
Download a free complete American Woodturner
index (PDF format) at tiny.cc/AWindex*.
WO O DT U R N E R SCH AT T E R
8 From the Editor’s Inbox
10 Tips for Selling Tools
11 Book Review:
American
Woodturner
54 Members’ Gallery
Bruce L. Jones
William A. Clark, III
Scott Wishart
Chuck Goldstein
John Sisak
Perry Balog
To order back issues:
Order past issues of American Woodturner at
tiny.cc/AWbackissues* or call 651-484-9094
or 877-595-9094 (toll free).
ADVERTISERS
For rates and specifications, contact:
Ewald Consulting
Erica Nelson
763-497-1778 • erica.nelson@ewald.com
Betsy Pierre
763-295-5420 • betsy.pierre@ewald.com
While the AAW is supported in part by
advertisers, sponsors, and exhibitors, it does
not endorse any product featured or advertised
in this journal, nor does the AAW assume
responsibility for the content of individual ads.
DIVERSITY STATEMENT
The AAW strives to cultivate an organization
built on mentorship, encouragement,
tolerance, and mutual respect, thereby
engendering a welcoming environment for
all. To read AAW’s full Diversity Statement,
visit tiny.cc/AAWDiversity*
A NOTE ABOUT SAFETY
COVER
Cover: Ruben van der Scheer, Wall Shelf of Ideas
Back cover: Daniel Michalik
An accident at the lathe can happen with
blinding suddenness; respiratory and other
problems can build over years.
Take appropriate precautions when you
turn. Safety guidelines are published online
at tiny.cc/turnsafe*. Following them will help
you continue to enjoy woodturning.
*Web address is case sensitive.
woodturner.org
3
A
N
A SSO C I AT I O N N E W S
NEWS
Editor’s Note
Ever wondered where ideas for content for AAW
publications come from? Of course, as your
editors, Don McIvor and I come up with topics
based on our own observations and experience
as longtime woodturners. But also, very often
we receive incredibly useful ideas from you, the
woodturning community.
Since we can’t possibly attend all woodturning events and be
aware of everything everywhere, you are our eyes and ears out there
in the field. We routinely receive messages suggesting that a certain
woodturner be profiled in the journal or that a certain technique or
project be included. As active AAW members and readers of both this
journal and Woodturning Fundamentals, you are well positioned to
influence the content. And by doing so, our publications become a
more accurate reflection of current needs and trends in our field.
AAW publications are by woodturners and for woodturners. So
please don’t hesitate to reach out with your ideas for content.
—Joshua Friend
From the President
Continuous
improvement
for woodturners
How do we “grow” in
woodturning? When I
started out, I produced
a few small plates
without knowing good technique by
current standards. I assumed the tools
were sharp, and would remain sharp,
since they came from the factory that
way. After spending several weeks scraping my way to success, I decided my
next woodturning project would be a
chess set. Several months later, I finished
the project, and it is unique in having
twenty-four pawns, about sixteen of
which look similar. The set is still in the
family, in the possession of a grandson,
who is an excellent chess player.
After a few decades in this avocation,
I have developed modest skills and can
produce a platter or bowl (with sharp
tools and good technique) in a fraction
of the time those early projects took.
Frequently, however, I seize upon a new
idea from my imagination, a demonstration, or the instant gallery at a chapter
meeting or symposium. Once I start that
new project, I learn things—about myself,
my impatience, the wood, and the tools.
Afterwards, I feel that I am a better turner,
and my next effort includes a new perspective and an improved skill set.
The AAW, in its print, online, and inperson programs, seeks both to educate
and entertain. Our presentations
intend to demonstrate good, safe technique and to inspire. Particularly for
our Annual International Symposium,
we do not expect attendees to spend
their discretionary dollars for a series
of basic classes that can be more effectively delivered locally, in person with
a mentor, or at a local chapter event.
Having said that, we know that our
most effective demonstrators, even
when teaching a complex process, show
good fundamentals as well.
What, then, is our role as “experienced” woodturners in furthering our
art, craft, and organization? Are you
pushing your creative limits? Are you
demonstrating at your local chapter
meetings? Are you sharing a new technique (or tool) at the “show and tell”
table? Are you writing informative articles for our Woodturning Fundamentals
publication? When was the last time
you invited a new turner to your shop
for a mentoring session?
Our community
I have just returned from a regional
woodturning event in Upstate New York
(Totally Turning). As always, I am struck
by the sense of community, sharing,
and enthusiasm for our woodturning
group. I was able to connect with leaders
of chapters, talk with both beginning
and experienced woodturners, and
even reconnect with a former colleague
4
in my non-woodturning profession
who is now a woodturner. This event is
part of a larger woodworkers gathering
with instant galleries for all forms of
work with wood. In my opinion, these
cross-fertilization opportunities are
worth pursuing.
Portland AAW Symposium
As you read this, we will have completed
another International Symposium, this
time in Portland, Oregon. Registration
exceeded our targets, and the event featured incredible demonstrators, wood
artists, and exhibitors. As always, this
success was due to the hard work and
involvement of over 100 volunteers,
both for the Symposium itself and in
support of all of the committees, staff,
and ad hoc groups who assisted with the
event in the background. We are grateful
for their efforts.
All year long, many hands make
light work, and I hope you will consider volunteering your time and
talent, if not to the AAW then perhaps
at the local level for your chapter.
Even mentoring a new turner in your
own shop helps fulfill our mission to
increase awareness of our avocation.
Keep turning,
Mike H. Summerer
President, AAW Board of Directors
American Woodturner June 2024
A SSO C I AT I O N N E W S
2025 AAW International Woodturning Symposium
Join Us in Saint Paul, Minnesota
June 12-15, 2025
AAWSYMPOSIUM.ORG
woodturner.org
5
A
N2025 POP ARTIST SHOWCASE OPPORTUNITY
A SSO C I AT I O N N E W S
NEWS
Application deadline: August 1, 2024
Each year the Professional Outreach
Program (POP) showcases two
wood artists at the AAW’s Annual
International Symposium. They are
either experienced artists who have
made significant contributions to
the woodturning field but have not
received appropriate recognition,
or emerging artists who have the
potential to make significant
contributions to the field.
The two selected artists give two
demonstrations each and participate
in a panel discussion of their work led
by David Ellsworth. Artists receive a
complimentary Symposium registration; a featured display in the Special
Exhibitions area; demonstration and
panel compensation; three days of
lodging at the AAW host hotel, and up
to $300 in travel expenses.
Artist applications are invited
for the 2025 AAW Symposium in
Saint Paul, Minnesota, June 12-15,
2025. Applications will be juried by
the POP committee. The application
deadline is August 1, 2024. See online
application at tiny.cc/Calls.
The 2024 POP Showcase Artists
Heather Marusiak (Manhattan, Kansas) and Kevin Jesequel (Portland, Oregon) were
the POP Showcase Artists featured at the 2024 AAW Symposium in Portland, Oregon.
Apply for an AAW Grant
AAW Grants are available to
individuals, chapters, schools, and
non-profit organizations. Examples
include but are not limited to
outreach programs and/or events
to encourage youth and underrepresented populations (women,
minority, disabled, etc.) to learn
and pursue woodturning, support
of existing or developing unique
woodturning programs, educational
workshops or class participation,
professional development
opportunities, chapter projects, etc.
In addition to monetary awards, up to
ten mini-lathe packages are available
for award each year.
Regular AAW Grants are awarded
on a bi-annual basis. To be eligible,
applications must be received by
December 31 for grants given January
through May, and by May 31 for
June through December. However,
Women in Turning (WIT) grants and
others for under-represented populations, events, and exhibitions are
awarded quarterly.
Find detailed grant descriptions
and application information at
tiny.cc/aawgrants. If you have questions,
please contact the AAW office by calling
877-595-9094 or emailing
memberservices@woodturner.org.
Call for Demonstrators:
AAW Symposium 2025
Photo: Andi Wolfe
The AAW’s 39th Annual International Symposium will be held in Saint Paul,
Minnesota, June 12-15, 2025. To apply to be a demonstrator, visit tiny.cc/Calls
between May 1 and August 1, 2024. For more information, call the AAW office
in Saint Paul at 651-484-9094 or email memberservices@woodturner.org.
Roberto Ferrer gives the thumbs up during
one of his rotations at the 2023 AAW
Symposium in Louisville, Kentucky.
6
American Woodturner June 2024
A SSO C I AT I O N N E W S
Join the AAW Legacy Society
When you think about what will happen
to your belongings after you’re gone,
it is natural to think about the people
and organizations that have meant
something to you. If you have been a
member of the American Association of
Woodturners (AAW) during your lifetime and believe in our mission, you can
ensure we will continue to make a positive difference far into the future.
You can support future woodturners and secure the AAW’s future by
leaving a gift in your will or trust.
This makes sense, especially if you
have assets that would be subject to
capital gains tax if given to others. By
donating these assets to the AAW, you
won’t pay capital gains tax, and you
can deduct their current value from
your income tax.
You can easily include a bequest in
your will or trust, and it is flexible:
• It does not affect your finances
during your lifetime.
• It is private, not disclosed until
after your passing.
• You can change it any time before
your death.
After setting up your bequest, let
us know so we can welcome you into
the AAW’s Legacy Society, a group of
special individuals who have made
provisions for the AAW in their
estate plans.
—Joe Dickey, Fundraising Committee
Specify an amount
or percentage
You can specify a certain amount or a
percentage of what is left in your estate
after other expenses. Generally, giving
a percentage allows for more flexibility
in your long-term planning.
Your gift is deductible for federal
estate tax purposes, and there is no
limit on the deduction. Plus, it is often
exempt from state inheritance taxes.
Sample Bequest Language
Simple bequest language that you can provide
to your estate attorney might read like this:
“I give, devise, and bequeath [specific dollar
amount, or percentage of estate] to the
American Association of Woodturners, a nonprofit organization located at 75 5th Street W,
222 Landmark Center, Saint Paul, MN 55102
USA [Tax ID: 45-3809279], for its
general purposes.”
Our Heartfelt Thanks, Portland Symposium Sponsors
and Exhibitors!
2024 AAW International
Symposium Sponsors:
Thank you to the many vendors who filled the
tradeshow in Portland, Oregon, this year:
Cousineau Wood Products
Crown Hand Tools
Easy Wood Tools
Howard Products, Inc.
JPW Industries/Powermatic/JET
Lyle Jamison Woodturning, LLC
MDI Woodcarvers Supply
Rikon
Woodcraft
Airbrushing Wood
Arrowmont School of Arts
and Crafts
Branches to Bowls, Ltd.
Carter and Son Toolworks
Clapham’s Beeswax Products, Ltd.
Clark’s Art Beyond
ClubExpress, a division of
Lumaverse Technologies
Craft Supplies USA
Curt Theobald Studios
D-Way Tools
Easy Inlay
EZ Jigs - Chefwarekits
FedEx
Gallery Hardwoods
Gilmer Wood Company
Hunter Tool Systems
Joshua Salesin
JPW Industries/JET/Powermatic
Kallenshaan Woods
A Special Thank You
to JPW Industries
JPW Industries, makers of Powermatic and
JET lathes, continued its legacy with the
AAW as the donor of the 2024 Symposium
raffle lathe in Portland, Oregon. The
company was also a key sponsor of our Learn
to Turn Youth Program as well as demonstration rooms during the Portland Symposium.
woodturner.org
Lucid Woodturners/XTool Lasers
Lyle Jamieson Woodturning, LLC
Matt’s Wood, Inc.
MDI Woodcarvers Supply
Milwaukie Hardwoods, LLC
Niles Bottle Stoppers
Oregon State University
Peke Safety
Planet Plus, Ltd.
Robert Sorby, Ltd.
Robust Tools
Rockler Woodworking
& Hardware
Stainless Bottle Stoppers
Stuart Batty Tools
Teknatool USA
Trent Bosch Tools
Woodturner PRO
Woodturners Smocks
Woodturning Magazine GMC Publications, Ltd.
7
WO O DT U R N E R SCH AT T E R
CHATTER
@
FROM THE
EDITOR’S
INBOX
I have raspberries growing in the garden, so I turned wood colanders to rinse
them. First, I turned the bowls, then drilled the drain holes. I found stainless
steel grommets at the hardware store and used gel cyanoacrylate (CA) glue to
secure them in each hole. I used
varnish as a finish, and the colanders are holding up well to normal
use and hand-washing in warm
soapy water.
—Tim Heil, Minnesota
Send emails to
editor@woodturner.org
On February 11, 2024, members
of the Yellowstone Woodturners
(Billings, Montana) watched
and cheered during the
Chiefs/49ers Super Bowl game,
but on the Friday before that,
we cheered and had a bowl
of soup at a different kind of
“Souper Bowl.” Our club’s 2023
goal was to turn 100 bowls and
donate them to Angela’s Piazza
(angelaspiazza.org) for their
annual fundraiser. Angela’s
Piazza is a community organization that aids domestic violence
survivors and their families.
Each year they hold their own
“Souper Bowl” when they invite
local supporters to purchase a
bowl of soup donated by local
restaurants and then send the
satisfied diners home with a
wood bowl turned by our club
or a ceramic bowl made by local
craftspeople. Our club’s donation of turnings gave every
turner, beginner or pro, the
opportunity to “let the chips fly”
and contribute to humanity.
—Richard Vande Veegaete,
Yellowstone Woodturners
The Cumberland Woodturners (Crossville, Tennessee) prides itself on giving
back to the community by utilizing special projects and events. In 2023, we
continued to team up with the Dogwood Exchange, Village Green, and the
first National Bank as sales locations for Christmas ornaments and turned
art projects. We are happy to report that last year we broke our past ornament and art sales record by selling more than 750 custom ornaments and
generating more than $16,000 in total sales.
We consider our Christmas ornament program and turned art projects
as club hallmarks and are proud to donate all proceeds to local community
charities. The 2023 recipients from those sales were House of Hope and
Kids on the Rise, which help hundreds of kids in need throughout the year.
Club challenges
To support our outreach efforts, our club offers special turning challenges
to our members. We turn art projects and sell them at our local arts festivals with all proceeds going to local charities. We challenge club members
to make boxes for Beads of Courage, a national organization that provides
milestone beads for children who are going through medical treatments.
Boxes turned by our club members serve as vessels that children can use as a
special place to store these meaningful beads. Members of the Cumberland
Woodturners also make wig stands for both children and adults suffering
from hair loss during cancer treatments. This year, 2024, marks the fifteenth
year the Cumberland Woodturners has served our community with projects
dedicated to sporting local charities.
For more information, including how to join us, visit
cumberlandwoodturners.com.
—Thomas Neckvatal, President, Cumberland Woodturners
Representatives
from House of
Hope and Kids on
the Rise receive
funds generated
and donated by
the Cumberland
Woodturners.
8
American Woodturner June 2024
WO O DT U R N E R SCH AT T E R
The Ohio Valley Woodturners
Guild (OVWG) recently donated
nearly forty Beads of Courage (BoC)
boxes to Cincinnati Children’s
Hospital. This is a well-established
program with the OVWG, going
back many years. In the BoC
program, boxes are donated to
young patients undergoing various
medical treatments for which they
receive commemorative beads.
The children use the boxes to hold
the beads, as they meet certain
milestones in their treatment
process. To encourage contributions
of turned boxes, our Guild has
conducted an annual BoC box
contest. Many members are regular
contributors. Two young members
of the Guild committed that the
first thing they would turn each
month is a BoC box.
BoC boxes lovingly made by OVWG members.
To learn more about donating
boxes to Beads of Courage, including
important guidelines and instructions
for woodturners, visit
beadsofcourage.org/bead-bowls.
—KC Kendall, Ohio Valley
Woodturners Guild
OVWG member David Wright leads
the club’s BoC initiative.
My wife wanted a better way to store her necklaces, so she could retrieve one without
getting them tangled. I thought about a solution where I could turn something for her. I
have been making wig stands for cancer patients and wondered if I could make a necklace
holder from a wig stand. I evenly spaced sixteen small screw hooks around the edge of the
top and found that the necklaces hang nicely from these hooks.
Then it occurred to me that I could include the necklace hooks with the wig stands we
donate to cancer patients. I decided to drill the holes in the wig stand and include the hooks
in a separate bag, along with a note that informs the recipient that the screw hooks can be
threaded into the holes after the stand is no longer being used to hold a wig. Voila! Now it is
a necklace holder!
—James Andersen, Wisconsin
The Cumberland Woodturners (Crossville, Tennessee), along
with Theresa Hess and Sally Neckvatal, sponsored an ornamentpainting activity using a recently developed memory-ornament
package. This ornament package was recommended by club
member Jake Niedling to be offered for sale during our annual
Christmas ornament project. The packages contained all necessary painting materials plus some decal embellishments and
several ornaments turned by members of the Cumberland
Woodturners. Theresa and Sally put the package to the test with
a gathering of twelve girls who are members of Theresa’s granddaughter’s soccer team. The paint-a-thon, including lunch, was a
rousing success.
The Cumberland Woodturners continues to seek projects that
provide opportunities for members to be more involved and
connected with our community. All proceeds from ornament
sales are donated to local charities.
—Thomas Neckvatal, President, Cumberland Woodturners
woodturner.org
Prepackaged ornament-decorating kits, including
turned ornaments, helped the Cumberland
Woodturners involve community members in
charitable fundraising.
9
WO O DT U R N E R SCH AT T E R
CHATTER
Tips for Selling Tools
Jeff King
Photos by Dennis Belcher.
Following are some tips for woodturners who, for whatever reason, have
decided it is time to reduce their collection of woodshop tools. They are
largely based on the recent experiences of members of the Wilmington
Area Woodturners Association, an
AAW chapter in North Carolina. No
doubt, readers will think of ideas to
supplement these tips; this article is
merely intended to prompt you to
think and plan ahead, so you can be
better prepared when your tool sale is
on the horizon.
Plan ahead
1. A sale held indoors, ideally in your
shop, will reduce the chore of having
to move and display all of your items
outside. And an outdoor/driveway sale
might necessitate scrambling if the
weather takes a turn for the worse.
2. While many woodturners are
retired and have the flexibility to
attend a sale almost any day and time,
new and younger members may not
have that same flexibility. A weekend
sale reduces this concern.
3. The availability of on-street
parking at the site, especially if you
intend to hold just a one-day sale,
must be considered, particularly if
heavy tools/machines need to be
transported to vehicles. Also, street
Plan ahead to avoid parking issues.
and driveway parking can quickly
run out. Conducting a day-long series
of thirty-minute sales sessions, for
maybe ten buyers at each session,
will eliminate an overflow crowd
all at one time. However, if a buyer
chooses a time later in the day, or is
assigned one, they may find the items
they wanted have already been sold.
That will be disappointing for them,
particularly if they traveled a long
way to the sale.
4. Folding tables are an easy place to
display tools, whereas placing them on
the ground or floor is much less desirable and can create a tripping hazard.
5. Have one or more extension cords
available so prospective purchasers
can plug in and safely try electric tools
before purchasing.
6. You may want to put a sign, such
as “WOODTURNERS TOOL SALE”
curbside at your location to help
buyers find you.
7. Understand that the actual sales
price of used tools will likely not come
close to the original price you paid for
them. Before pricing the tools in the
sale, determine whether your goal is
to have nothing left at the end of the
sale or to maximize revenue. A helpful
rule of thumb is that used tools can
Have power available so buyers can test
electric tools.
10
be priced at 50% of the current price
of a comparable new item. Adjust this
percentage based on the condition of
the tool and the primary goal of the
sale. Also, expect that no matter how
reasonably you have priced your items,
some prospective purchasers may
attempt to negotiate further. Decide
ahead of time how you will handle this
scenario—know your bottom line.
8. Some buyers may show up well
before the sale starts to increase their
chances of getting what they want
to buy. Decide ahead of time how (or
whether) you will accommodate them.
A “to do” list
1. Prepare an inventory of your sale
items, including brand names, model
numbers, tool capacities in inches (as
appropriate), horsepowers, voltages,
and prices, for inclusion in a comprehensive list for publication ahead of
the sale. If your club can publish your
sale items (either in a newsletter or on
their website), make the list “emailable” and include photos.
2. Clean your tools as best you can.
People may show up ahead of the starting time
to get first dibs on certain items. Decide ahead
of time how you will accommodate them.
American Woodturner June 2024
WO O DT U R N E R SCH AT T E R
3. Plug in and test any electric tools to
ensure they operate.
4. Locate and plan to provide to the
purchaser any owner’s manual or
instructions that came with the tools.
5. If you have many items, label each
one with an inventory number and a
price. Several sizes of adhesive stickers
for this purpose are available at any of
the local office supply stores.
6. Cash may be the simplest way to
make a sale, but if you trust the person
offering a check, that is your choice.
If it is to be a cash-only sale, have a
supply of various denominations
on hand. Price items in even dollar
amounts to avoid the need for coins.
7. Arrange to have help during your
tool sale. The availability of a family
member or friend to finalize sales and
Mark each sale item with an inventory number
and price.
Be sure to have sufficient smaller bills on hand
to make change.
collect payment will leave you, the
owner, free to answer questions for
other prospective buyers.
9. If your sale will be held in a confined
space, such as a one- or two-stall garage,
try to arrange your tables and tools so
that prospective buyers can inspect
them and move through your display
in a free-flowing manner. Locate related
items together—such as sandpaper and
sanding tools, electric drills and drill
bits, and routers and router bits.
8. Have on hand or remind buyers to
bring sturdy shopping bags and/or cardboard boxes to move their purchases to
their vehicle. If you are selling a heavy
piece of equipment, have on hand or
ask buyers to bring a two-wheeled cart,
hand truck, or some extra help.
—Jeff King, Wilmington Area Woodturners
Association
Book Review: Creative Woodturning Projects, by Richard Findley,
Guild of Master Craftsman (GMC) Publications, 2024, 160 pages, paperback
Richard Findley’s
first book, Turning
Decorative Bowls,
was reviewed in
the October 2023
AW (vol 38, no
5, page 9). Based
on the same
premise—addressing a challenge set
by the editor of Woodturning magazine—Creative Woodturning Projects
has greater appeal for two reasons.
Content
The book’s projects are true to its title:
creative. Most are small and ideal as
gift items for family and friends. There
are two examples of jewelry—a heartshaped pendant and ring—that would
be appreciated by any recipient. One
section is devoted to games, including
woodturner.org
a handsome chess set, and another to
boxes, none of which align with the
usual mental image of box. A bread
board with incised letters would be
ideally suited for slicing a baguette at
the table, although devious crumbs
could hide in the incised letters. The
book concludes with a 3" (8cm) globe
on a stand that permits pyrography of
any version of the world you want—
antipodeans can turn it upside down.
Like in the bowls publication, Findley
tells how he tackled each project by
means of images and text. A seasoned
turner could readily follow along, with
the proviso that patience and practice
make perfect.
to encourage a novice. The projects
are exciting and inspiring, with end
results that are a testament to the
pleasure and practicality of woodturning. While making a cryptex is, by
no means, easy, the satisfaction in its
completion would build confidence
and commitment to the lathe.
Potential
Creative Woodturning Projects is recommended as a contemporary woodturning how-to book that includes
a “Tools of the Trade” chapter that
would help a newbie decide what is
essential for the workshop. As with
Findley’s previous book, you can
support the maker/author by purchasing signed copies via his website,
turnersworkshop.co.uk.
The book, in itself, would be an ideal
present for an established turner or
—D Wood
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WO O DT U R N E R SCH AT T E R
CHATTER
SkillsUSA Utah Holds Third-Annual
High School Woodturning Contest
Photos by Alan Peck.
The third-annual SkillsUSA Utah High
School Woodturning Contest was
held March 29, 2024. Nine contestants
participated, representing five schools
from five school districts.
The primary goals of SkillsUSA
are to help students build leadership
and workplace skills. As a result,
preparing for the state contest requires
SkillsUSA Utah 2024 Woodturning
Contestants (left to right): back row: Griffin
Burnham, Isaac Loser, Chance Roberts;
center row: Benjamin Tuttle, Andrew
Jensen, Lincoln Zacaharias; front row: Asher
Anderson, Jaelie Adams, Porter Avery.
All fifty states have a SkillsUSA association, director,
and annual competition, but currently only Utah holds a
state-level woodturning competition.
significant effort beyond making
a turned project. Contestants were
judged in five categories—project
design, project quality, interview,
portfolio notebook, and written
test. The quality of the turnings and
portfolio notebooks submitted were
excellent and represented significant
creativity, initiative, and work. Each of
the three winners submitted work that
was very nicely done and performed
well in all five judging categories.
Student prizes and contest judges
were provided by Craft Supplies
USA (Provo) and Woodcraft (Sandy).
Several individuals, including
members of the Timp Woodturners
Association (Provo, Utah), donated
their time to serve as judges and
assistants to make the contest run
smoothly. Nathan Pickett (SkillsUSA
Utah State Director), Savannah
Costello (SkillsUSA Utah State
Site Director), and Jared Massic
(Woodturning Cluster Chair) were
particularly supportive and helpful.
About SkillsUSA
SkillsUSA is a national career
and technical student leadership
organization with more than 380,000
members. It sponsors over 100
different competitions (see sidebar).
All fifty states have a SkillsUSA
association, director, and annual
competition, but currently only
Utah holds a state-level woodturning
1st Place, Maple Harbor, by Porter Avery,
Tooele High School, Josh Warren (teacher)
3rd Place, Sun Kissed, by Chance Roberts, Tooele
High School, Josh Warren (teacher)
2nd Place, Three-Legged Chair, by Asher Anderson,
Brighton High School, Paul Otterstrom (teacher)
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WO O DT U R N E R SCH AT T E R
competition. It is hoped that in 2025
there will be SkillsUSA woodturning
competitions held in additional states
and that eventually woodturning
competitions will be held in states
throughout the country at the
national level.
If you are interested in organizing
a SkillsUSA woodturning competition in
your state, please contact Kip Christensen
at kc@learningturning.com.
Display Bowl, by Lincoln Zacaharias, Brighton High
School, Paul Otterstrom (teacher)
More on SkillsUSA
To learn more about SkillsUSA, visit the following links:
• SkillsUSA main website: skillsusa.org
• SkillsUSA State Association Directors:
skillsusa.org/who-we-are/leaders-and-partners/association-directors
• SkillsUSA List of Competitions: skillsusa.egnyte.com/dl/B7UvDZ4E9e
Maple Magic, by Griffin Burnham, Tooele High
School, Josh Warren (teacher)
Function or Form/Nesting Dolls, by Benjamin Tuttle,
Timpview High School, Cameron Whatcott (teacher)
Rolling Pin, by Jaeli Adams, Dixie High School, Arissa Ward (teacher)
Fruit Burl Bowl, by Isaac Loser, American Fork High School,
Sandon Ellefson (teacher)
woodturner.org
Cherry Chair, by
Andrew Jensen,
Brighton High School,
Paul Otterstrom
(teacher)
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WO O DT U R N E R SCH AT T E R
CHATTER
AAW WIT Wig Stand Initiative—One Year Later
As part of a WIT wig stand initiative, members of the Tennessee
Association of Woodturners (both female and male) collaborated with
students from Covenant School and the folks at Tri Star Medical Center.
Women in Turning (WIT) is a program
of the AAW that brings together
women worldwide who share a passion
for woodturning. WIT is dedicated
to encouraging and assisting women
in their pursuit of turning by sharing
A selection of WIT-initiative wig stands from the Minnesota Woodturners
Association monthly challenge project.
Photo: Linda Ferber
ideas, information, and processes to
further their skills and creativity. WIT
programming provides a platform to
connect women, embracing all backgrounds and differences in celebration
of equity and inclusion.
WIT Liaisons
Genae Johnson turns a wig stand spindle/post
during a Cape Cod Woodturners WIT gathering.
Photo: Robin McIntyre
Club officers help engage women in
their local club by supporting a WIT
Liaison—a point person in the club,
either female or male, who works
within the group to bring women
together and also engages in the larger
WIT Liaison community.
Since early 2022, WIT Liaisons have
been meeting online every six to eight
weeks to share ideas, insights, and concerns and to problem-solve and build
community. They also connect via
the WIT Liaison online community,
sharing information and ideas.
The WIT Wig Stand Initiative
Cape Cod Woodturners’ Deb Chase shares her
embellishment talents on a wig stand top.
Photo: Don Chase
In late 2022, New Jersey’s Atlantic
Shore Woodturners Club Liaison
Susan Chiarello presented the idea to
launch a national WIT project to make
wig stands. Wig stands have been
crafted by other clubs over the years,
but this was to be specifically a WIT
initiative. The wig stands are donated
to local partnering organizations that
are giving away free wigs to those in
need. The partners may be hospitals,
oncology clinics, cosmetology
programs, or other organizations that
14
support people undergoing (most
often) cancer treatment. Almost all
of us—our families, friends, and
communities—have been touched by
cancer, so this project resonates with
people on a personal level.
After a few months of gathering and
organizing resources for distribution,
production, an introductory letter,
and photos by Robin McIntyre, Jean
LeGwin, and the WIT Committee, the
AAW WIT Wig Stand Initiative was
launched in March 2023. The response
has been widespread. WIT groups and
entire woodturning chapters have
jumped on the bandwagon and have
produced 541 wig stands to date. These
creations of talent and TLC are treasured
by their recipients, who are having to
endure a tough time in their lives.
It would be wonderful if there was no
ongoing need for these wig stands,
but unfortunately the need continues.
Join us on this journey. To see all of
the resources in our initiative—the
what, why, and how, plus distribution
materials—visit the WIT Calls,
Projects & Grants webpage at
tiny.cc/WITInfo (URL is case-sensitive). Let’s keep a good thing moving
forward! Many thanks to all who have
donated their time and talents to this
community project.
—Robin McIntyre, WIT Liaison Coordinator
and Cape Cod Woodturners WIT Liaison
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WO O DT U R N E R SCH AT T E R
Calendar of Events
Send event info to editor@woodturner.org. Ausust issue deadline: June 15.
England
October 4–6, 2024, Association of Woodturners
of Great Britain (AWGB) 18th International
Woodturning Seminar, Yarnfield Park Training
and Conference Centre, Staffordshire.
Demonstrators to include Mick Hanbury, Simon
Hope, Margaret Garrard, Jason Breach, Kade
Bolger, David O’Neill, Yann Marot, Jan Hovens,
Neil Joynt, and Rolly Munro. For more, visit
awgbwoodturningseminar.co.uk.
Ireland
October 12, 13, 2024, Irish Woodturners Guild
(IWG) Seminar, Tullamore Court Hotel, Tullamore,
County Offaly. Demonstrators to include Emmet
Kane, Derek Weidman, Chris Parker, Nikos Siragas,
and Roberto Cecconello. For more, visit iwg.ie.
Colorado
September 27–29, 2024, Rocky Mountain
Woodturning Symposium, The Ranch Larimer
County Events Center, Loveland. Demonstrators
to include Jean-François Escoulen, Dale Larson,
Rudolph Lopez, Jacques Vesery, Kimberly Winkle,
Michael Anderson, Christian Brisepierre, Linda
Ferber, Joe Fleming, Chris Hoehle, Vinny Luciani,
Randall Olander, Doug Schneiter, and Chip
Siskey. Symposium to include hands-on learning,
tradeshow, instant gallery, and auctions. For
more, visit rmwoodturningsymposium.com.
Illinois
August 2–4, 2024, Turn On! Chicago
Woodturning Symposium, Crowne Plaza
Hotel, Northbrook. Demonstrators to include
Stuart Batty, Roberto Ferrer, Greg Gallegos,
Keith Gotschall, Kristen LeVier, Laurent Niclot,
Elizabeth Weber, Rob Wallace, Jeff Hornung,
and Kurt Wolff-Klammer. Live rotations, instant
gallery with People’s Choice award, WIT
meeting, banquet/auction, and tradeshow. For
more, visit turnonchicago.com and follow us
on Instagram, @turnonchicago.
September 26–28, 2025, Segmented
Woodturners Symposium, Crowne Plaza
woodturner.org
Hotel, Northbrook. The only symposium fully
dedicated to segmenting. Save the date for
next year; details to come. For more, visit
segmentedwoodturners.org.
Minnesota
Multiple 2024 exhibitions, AAW’s Gallery of
Wood Art, Landmark Center, Saint Paul:
• May 19–September 1, 2024: Art from
the Lathe—Selected Works from the AAW
Permanent Collection
• September 8–December 29, 2024: Common
Roots (AAW’s 2024 member exhibition)
• Ongoing: Touch This!; Around the Hus—Turning
in Scandinavian Domestic Life; She’s Tops!
Selections from the Linda Ferber Collection;
vintage and historic lathes and turned items
For more, visit galleryofwoodart.org or email
Tib Shaw at tib@woodturner.org.
Montana
September 20–22, 2024, Yellowstone
Woodturners Symposium, Roaring 20s Club
House, Billings. Featured demonstrator/
instructor will be Michael Roper, whose
sessions will be geared toward both beginners
and experienced turners. For more, visit the
Yellowstone Wood Turners Facebook page or
email Sam Angelo (samandcheryle@gmail.
com) or Roger Kesler (rogerkesler@msn.com).
Pennsylvania
February 9–September 15, 2024, Experiencing
Form: Phil Brown and the Museum’s Residency
Artist Alumnae, Museum for Art in Wood,
Philadelphia. An exhibition of bowls and
sculpture initiated by the late Phil Brown and
completed by the residency alumni. For more,
visit museumforartinwood.org.
Hancock, Greg Gallegos. Featuring Friday night
meet & greet demonstrator presentations,
Women in Turning meeting, vendor room,
silent auction, raffle, instant gallery, and a
hands-on room with tips and tricks from
professionals. For more, visit mawts.com.
Texas
August 23–25, 2024, SWAT (Southwest
Association of Turners) annual symposium, Waco
Convention Center, Waco. Demonstrators to
include Stuart Batty, Sammy Long, Kurt Hertzog,
Kirk DeHeer, Jason Breach, Beth Ireland, and
Laurent Niclot. Registration includes lunch each
day, vendor tradeshow, and instant gallery. For
more, visit swaturners.org.
Virginia
November 2, 3, 2024, Virginia Woodturners,
Inc., biennial symposium, Expoland, Fishersville.
Headline artists include Donna Zils Banfield, Trent
Bosch, JoHannes Michelsen, Kristin LeVier, Andi
Wolfe, Bob Rotche, Nick Agar, Joe Fleming, Barry
Gross, Jeff Hornung, Linda Ferber, Willie Simmons,
and Steve Schwartz. Forty-six demonstrations,
large vendor tradeshow, instant gallery. For more,
visit virginiawoodturners.com.
Washington
October 19, 2024, Northwest Washington
Woodturners’ 12th-annual all-day demo, A Day
with Keith Gotschall, Anacortes First Baptist
Church, Anacortes. Full-day demonstration
including bowl-turning techniques and turning
a stool. Deli lunch provided, and classes will
also be available. For more, visit nwwwt.org,
email questions to info@nwwwt.org, or call
Charley Drake at (425) 785-2994 or Rod Parker
at (480) 338-3395.
September 20–22, 2024, The Mid Atlantic
Woodturning Symposium, Lancaster Marriott
Hotel and Convention Center, Lancaster.
Featured demonstrators to include Stuart Batty,
Alan Lacer, Keith Gotschall, Carol Hall, Mark
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WO O DT U R N E R SCH AT T E R
TIPS
Tips
Share your turning ideas!
If we publish your tip, we’ll pay you $35. Email your tips along with relevant
photos or illustrations to editor@woodturner.org. —Joshua Friend, Editor
Toolrest jig for off-center work
Making certain repeating patterns using an offset jig, such as the Joyner offset
jig, requires you to place the tool in the exact same spot on a toolrest multiple
times. To aid in this process, I made a jig that attaches to my Robust box toolrest. You can see my diamond-pointed carbide tool just fits in the slots in the
jig I made, providing consistent alignment (Photo 1).
The bottom of the wood jig has a narrow lip, which, when pressed up
against the metal toolrest, helps to keep the jig square to the toolrest. I also
make use of the metal post in the Robust toolrest by having a hole in the
wood jig. These two features are all that I need to keep the jig in place during
use (Photos 2, 3).
When positioning the toolrest, make sure to leave enough room for the
offset jig to be removed so you can change the offsets (Photo 4) without
having to move the toolrest. Depending on
the pattern you are making, you may end up
moving the toolrest or making use of an additional slot on the plywood jig once the first set
of patterns is made.
—Byron Patterson, Wisconsin, AAW member
since 2020
1
2
3
Drop-on chainsaw
scabbard
My chainsaw is always sitting
around somewhere in my studio.
The chain teeth are razor sharp,
so I like to keep a chainsaw scabbard over them to avoid getting
cut accidentally. Commercially
available scabbards are designed
to slip on/off the end of the bar.
I found installing and removing
them to be more difficult than
necessary, which meant I didn’t
use a scabbard consistently. I
solved the problem by making my
own scabbard that just slips down
over the bar. It is easy to install
and remove.
I made the drop-on scabbard
out of ¼"- (6mm-) thick plywood
with ¾"- (19mm-) square spacers
on the top and front. I painted it
red and yellow to make it easy
to find.
—Carl Ford, New York, AAW member
since 2001
4
Lathe-mounted abrasive disk
It’s impossible to carve bone and soft
metals with any accuracy using a handheld angle grinder. But if you mount an
angle grinder disk inboard (as shown)
and lock a horizontal platform into the
banjo, accurate carving of a hand-held
workpiece is possible.
—Mike Darlow, New South Wales, Australia,
AAW member since 1986
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American Woodturner June 2024
WO O DT U R N E R SCH AT T E R
Bed ways-mounted workstation
Since my best dust collection is located at my lathe, I am forever doing
much of my sanding there, whether sanding turnings or other pieces.
Not only is balancing work on the ways tricky, but it’s too easy to drop a
workpiece on the floor. So using scraps laying around the shop, I created a
new, stable sanding and work platform at the lathe.
First, I used wood glue and a brad nailer to fasten a 1½" × 2½" (38mm × × 6cm)
piece of pine to a 17" × 27" (43cm × 69cm) piece of scrap plywood. The pine
piece fit nearly perfectly between the bed ways of my lathe without my having
to do any significant trimming (Photo 1). This piece not only stabilizes the
plywood work surface but also allows me to move the workstation left or right.
Next, to give the plywood platform a non-skid surface, I glued rubberized shelf lining to the plywood using a spray adhesive (Photo 2).
Finally, to make the workstation really stable, I attached four powerful
rare-earth magnets to the underside of the plywood using epoxy. Since
the magnets have a total pulling force of over 20 pounds, they keep everything in place while I’m working. However, the magnets aren’t so strong
that I can’t easily remove the workstation when I need to put it away.
—Rich Sabreen, Connecticut, AAW member since 2015
1
Cake tester aids in
centering faceplate
When attaching a faceplate to a bowl
blank, I like to get it centered to reduce
wobble and to maximize the bowl size.
My faceplate has an opening diameter
of 1½" (38mm), so if you center it by eye,
there is quite of bit of room for error. To
center it more precisely, I turned a small
“plug” with a diameter just shy of 1½" and
drilled a small hole through the center of
it, just big enough for a cake tester.
To center the faceplate, I drill a small
hole in the center of the bowl blank
about ⅛" (3mm) deep. I then “pin” the
plug to the center of the blank with the
cake tester and drop the faceplate over
the cake tester and plug. After attaching
the faceplate with screws, the cake tester
and plug will easily drop out.
And since cake testers are inexpensive,
you won’t need to borrow one from the
kitchen!
—Michael Mullen, New York, AAW
member since 2021
2
Sandpaper rack
The “secret” to achieving a finely polished finish is to sand through the grits
to, say, 600 grit. If I start with 150 grit, I then sand with 180, 240, 320, 400,
and 600. This process is much more efficient if you use a sandpaper rack. The
one shown is about 20" (50cm) tall, 16½" (42cm) wide, 6" (15cm) deep. Its top
shelf is at a height of about 12" (30cm), which is 4" (10cm) higher than my
lathe’s center height. The rack’s features include the following:
• The square bar at the top is rotatable so that four different series of grits
can be labeled on it.
• The top “shelf” holds triple-folded quarter sheets, which are used to sand
the workpiece.
• The top shelf’s vertical dividers are supported
on dowels so that shavings fall through.
• The top shelf is high enough for the
turner to safely reach over the rotating
workpiece to remove and replace triplefolded quarter sheets.
• The bottom shelf holds unfolded quarter
sheets and is positioned high enough to
clear the top of the lathe’s banjo.
—Mike Darlow, New South Wales, Australia,
AAW member since 1986
woodturner.org
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WO O DT U R N E R SCH AT T E R
TIPS
Vary bevel sizes on double-bevel scrapers
The most important part of a doublebevel scraper (commonly known by
the more technical term, negativerake scraper) is the edge, and because
the bevels don’t touch the wood,
their only purpose is to create the
included angle of that edge. The
included angle can be as small as
you want, but too acute will mean
it goes blunt very quickly. There are
many reasons you might have different angles, such as the hardness
or abrasiveness of the wood you are
working, or how often you prefer to
sharpen. Once you have decided on
the angle you want, the best way is to
divide the angle in two and that will
be the angle your grinder toolrest
should be set at (Photo 1).
1
An internet search will show that
many turners sharpen the upper and
lower bevels to the same length, which
means the edge will be in the middle
of the tool thickness, but that is not
the most efficient way to sharpen these
tools. When I shape such scrapers, I
complete the bevel on the bottom first,
so it looks like a conventional scraper,
and then I turn it over and create only
a tiny bevel on the top, as little as 0.1"
(2.5mm) wide (Photos 2, 3). I only need
one final pass on the lower bevel to
create the “hook” on the upper bevel
and I am good to go. The advantage is
that when I sharpen, I need to touch
up only the bottom bevel. When the
small bevel on the top gets too narrow,
I sharpen it to its former 0.1" width
2
3
and because the upper and lower bevel
angles are the same, I don’t need to
adjust the grinder toolrest. I only need
to do that about every tenth time I
sharpen. The edge is the same as with
equal bevels, but I have kept the edge
nearer to the top of the tool, so there is
more support from below.
If you already have a double-bevel
scraper with equal bevels, sharpen
only the bottom bevel for a while and
eventually you will arrive at the same
result, and you can decide for yourself
if you will keep it that way. Photo 4
shows just how well the tool works,
and this is with very hard Australian
hairy oak.
—Terry Martin, Queensland, Australia,
first joined the AAW in 1996
4
Boring holes with a cross-slide vise
Dowel centers wasteblock
If you need to bore holes of specific and constant diameter, you can use
a cross-slide vise. The one shown in Photo 1 is inexpensive and amply
accurate. You have to pack the cross-slide vise up so that the cutting
takes place at lathe-axis height. The cutter shown held in the vise is an
unhandled detail gouge, with the blade sharpened out-cannel; it leaves
a better surface than a scraping cutter would. For deep small-diameter
holes, swap to an in-cannel-sharpened gouge (Photos 2, 3).
—Mike Darlow, New South Wales, Australia, AAW member since 1986
When I glue a wasteblock to a bowl blank, I do two
things. First, I drill a shallow hole in the center
of the wasteblock and the bowl blank (labeled A
and B, respectively, in Photo 1). Next, I spread glue
between the bowl blank and wasteblock and keep
them aligned using a dowel inserted into the corresponding holes. The final step is to use the drill
press as a clamp while the glue dries (Photo 2).
—Tim Heil, Minnesota, AAW member since 2001
2
1
Ready to increase the diameter of the hole
in an Osage orange workpiece using a
gouge clamped between the vise jaws.
3
A bowl gouge sharpened in-cannel.
1
18
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American Woodturner June 2024
WO O DT U R N E R SCH AT T E R
Needle-tip applicator bottle for CA glue
I bought these needle-tip applicator bottles at Hobby Lobby, and they
are great for applying cyanoacrylate (CA) glue without getting it in
unwanted places. The needle on the bottle allows me to get close to, for
example, a crack in the wood that needs to be filled, giving me greater
accuracy. I keep the needle cap that comes with the bottle off, as using
it actually causes the needle to clog. The uncovered needle doesn’t clog
very often, but if it does, I just soak it in acetone for a few minutes and I
am ready to go again.
—Terry Butler, Arkansas, AAW member since 2022
Leveling bolts as sanding disk mandrel
I used leveling bolts and foam to make a sanding disk holder, or
mandrel. (The traditional purpose of leveling bolts is to thread
them onto the ends of table legs for easy leveling adjustment.) Start
by cutting foam disks slightly wider than the flat of the leveling
bolt. Next, use double-sided carpet tape to affix the foam to the leveling bolt. I cut rounds of sandpaper to fit over the foam, then use
more double-sided tape to hold the sanding disk to the foam pad.
—Tim Heil, Minnesota, AAW member since 2001
Steel rod mandrel
Years ago, I took a class in which we
turned twig pots. In preparation for
the class, the instructor asked us to
get a ¾" (19mm) drill bit with a #2
Morse taper. We turned twig pots and
drilled the center with this drill bit
to accept a glass tube. Then, when we
were ready to complete the bottom of
the twig pots, we used the drill bit as
a mandrel to reverse-mount the work.
We installed the drill bit directly in
the headstock spindle, then mounted
the workpiece on the drill bit using
the hole we had drilled. I have used
this mounting method many times
since then. However, one limitation
is that pushing sideways on the drill
bit could make the Morse taper come
loose. Likewise, mounting the drill
bit in a drill chuck with a Morse taper
could cause the same problem; drill
chucks and Morse tapers are not made
for side pressure while being held
from one end only.
Holding a steel rod of appropriate
diameter in a collet chuck is
one alternative that I have used
woodturner.org
successfully. But while I was preparing
to give a demonstration for our club
on turning twig pots, I realized
that only two club members own
collet chucks. I wanted to present a
holding method that I knew would be
accessible for most turners. We ended
up using a length of steel rod driven
into a piece of wood that had been
turned with a chucking tenon to fit in
a four-jaw chuck.
To make this jig, be sure to drill a
hole just slightly smaller than the
rod you intend to use. The goal is
to get a press fit with no glue/epoxy
required. For the steel rod, I bought
cold-rolled zinc-coated ½" (13mm)
steel rod from Home Depot, which
requires a 31⁄64" hole for a good fit in
the wood. During the demo, our club
members were impressed by how
rapidly I reverse-mounted, turned,
and sanded the bottom of the twig
pot I had made.
—Leon Olson, Utah, AAW member
since 2010
A steel rod press-fit into a hole in a piece of
wood held in a chuck can serve as a reliable
mandrel. Blue painter’s tape will take up any
slack to achieve a good fit of the twig pot.
The hole drilled in a twig pot fits on the steel
rod mandrel, providing access to the bottom
of the workpiece. For maximum safety, use
tailstock support until the final passes.
19
Using a
Profile Gauge
T
here are different kinds of profile gauges, and the type that is
used by woodturners is a contour profile gauge. These gauges use a
set of captive pins to copy a shape so it
can be transferred to a piece of wood.
It is a very quick way of copying what
would otherwise require a very complex set of measurements.
My oldest profile gauge is made of
metal, as shown in Photo 1. It is very
reliable because once you set it, it is very
hard to accidentally change the profile.
The newer plastic ones are easier to
set, but it’s quite easy to accidentally
change the setting if you bump it.
Reproduce an existing shape
I was recently asked to turn a large
number of small wooden holders for
desk compasses. It wasn’t a complicated shape, but they all had to be
exactly the same (Photo 2).
I used my 5" (13cm) profile gauge
on the sample I was given to establish
the shape of the top. Sometimes, if you
just press the whole gauge down on the
Terry Martin
shape to be copied, the “fingers” spread
apart, so it is better to push them down
one at a time with a fingernail to get an
accurate impression (Photo 3). Once the
profile gauge was set, I had to be careful
not to bump it too hard.
I used a chuck to mount a square
blank that I had cut slightly larger
than the diameter of the finished
piece. I then drilled the hole for the
compass with a Forstner bit in a chuck
held in the tailstock. When I made
the first one, I bored the hole in small
increments until it was the right
depth for the compass, then noted
how many turns of the tailstock
handle it took to reach that depth.
That made it quickly repeatable
without need for measuring.
After that I made a flat cut from left
to right to create the shoulder of the
body, just like the outside of a bowl.
Once I reached the edge of the square,
I knew I had the exact diameter,
which is repeatable for every piece.
As I refined the cut for the shoulder
and the small bevel that leads into the
hole, I stopped and checked the shape
against the profile gauge (Photos 4, 5).
After I had turned all the tops of the
compass holders, I proceeded to turn the
bottoms. I used a small chuck with the
jaws expanded into the hole to reversemount each workpiece for turning the
base. I again used the gauge to copy the
profile of the base of the sample. When
I had completed fifty of them and lined
them up for applying a finish, there
were no discernible differences in the
shape, thanks to my profile gauge. After
the finish dried, it needed only a small
amount of silicon inside to hold the
compasses and the job was complete.
Line up curves
Another way a profile gauge can be of
great help for woodturners is when you
want to carve feet on a bowl. A common
method is to turn a ring on the base of
the bowl, mark the positions of the feet,
and then remove the wood between
the feet. The problem is that when you
are cutting the curve on the underside
of the bowl, it is difficult to know if the
Gauge a completed project
Profile gauges
2
1
The author’s three profile gauges. The
plastic ones are 5" and 10" (13cm and
25cm) wide.
A sample desk compass the author was
commissioned to copy in multiples. He
uses a profile gauge to take a physical
record of the shape to be duplicated.
20
3
American Woodturner June 2024
F E AT U R E
Confirm the shape
4
Before sanding,
the author verifies
the shape of
the top of the
compass holder
using the profile
gauge, making
additional cuts
as needed. The
same process
is used for the
bottom of the
piece.
5
curve matches inside and outside of the
foot ring. If you get it wrong, the difference of the curves will be very obvious
after you have removed the wood
between the feet, and you might have to
do more turning to blend the curve.
There are several ways to make a bowl
with a ring that will later be carved to
create feet. If the ring is small enough,
it can temporarily double up as the
spigot, or chucking tenon, that is used for
remounting to turn the inside of the bowl.
In that case, the curves inside and outside
of the ring can be matched up while you
are still shaping the whole underside, and
once the bowl has been hollowed, you can
proceed directly to carving the feet. In the
process, you can remove all evidence that
the ring was used as a spigot. However,
if the bowl is large and the ring is too
wide to be used as a spigot, then a spigot
needs to be turned inside the foot ring for
remounting. In this case, the bowl will
need to be reverse-mounted after hollowing to remove the spigot.
In either case, a simple way to make
the curve consistent is to use a profile
gauge. I turned a red cedar bowl that
was 8" (20cm) in diameter with a 3½"
(9cm) foot ring and a small spigot inside
the ring. I reverse-mounted it when
the bowl’s interior was completed and
removed the spigot (Photo 6).
As I approached what I thought was
a good curve, I constantly checked
by pushing the profile gauge onto the
wood so that it copied the curve on
both sides of the ring. After removing
the gauge from the bowl and holding
it at eye level, I could see if the curves
lined up and was able to make small
cuts until they matched (Photos 7, 8).
Confirm the curve
7
6
A bowl is reverse-mounted on plate, or
jumbo, jaws to allow full access to the base.
The author has removed the chucking
tenon that was inside the foot ring and
now strives for a continuous curve flowing
down the bowl and through the foot.
Then I removed the wood between the
legs with a combination of a small flexible
saw and a carbide cutter in a flexible shaft.
With careful sanding, I removed all signs
that there had been a ring there (Photo 9).
Profile gauges have many possible
applications for woodturners, particularly if you do production runs, so why
not give them a try?
Terry Martin is a woodturner and writer
working in Ipswich, Australia. Visit his
website, terrymartinwoodartist.com, or
contact him at tmartin111@bigpond.com.
Carve the feet
8
The profile gauge confirms that the curve inside the foot continues perfectly from outside
the foot.
woodturner.org
The goal: a
continuous curve
9
With the proper curve established, the
author carves away most of the ring,
leaving just the finished feet.
21
HERE’S THE
SCOOP
(NO SPECIAL CHUCKS NEEDED)
Bill Kram
T
urned kitchen utensils are a pleasure to make and a joy to use. The
personal touch of the maker—
you—also gives them special meaning
as a gift. Turning scoops was the theme
of an August 2012 American Woodturner
article by Mike Peace, “Donuts and
Coffee: A Small, Versatile Chuck Lets
You Turn Scoops” (vol 27, no 4, page
43). This article had a special appeal for
me, as it showed how to make a coffee
scoop that could be used each day for
my morning coffee routine. I thought
this would be a nice replacement for my
generic plastic measuring scoop.
The 2012 article starts with directions for the construction of a complex
donut chuck. The author acknowledges that you will probably spend
more time making the chuck than
turning your first scoop. This method
is presented in several published articles and in internet videos, too. One
drawback, besides its complexity and
time involved, is its restriction to just
one scoop size per donut chuck.
Blank layout
Draw the scoop’s shape
directly onto the turning
blank. A centerline
(A) runs along the top
surface and down the
ends. Line B represents
the center height of
the side view and is
positioned ½" down
from the top surface.
1
22
After thinking about this and wondering if I could avoid spending the
time making the chuck, an idea came
to mind for another method of construction. I believe it is simpler and
more convenient, as it uses no special
jig at all—just a large wood faceplate—and allows for any size scoop
to be made.
As with other methods of turning a
one-piece scoop, the blank has to be
mounted in two separate orientations
on the lathe. One position is for turning
the bowl of the scoop, and the second
is for turning the handle. The method
I have adopted reverses the steps from
other approaches I have seen: the bowl
is hollowed first and then the piece is
spindle-turned to completion.
Prepare the blank
For a coffee scoop measuring 1 tablespoon, start with a blank of dry,
straight-grained wood about 2" (5cm)
square and 6" (15cm) long. Photo 1
shows a blank with a 5"- (13cm-) long
scoop drawn onto it, including spindle
features. Start by drawing a centerline
down the length of the blank on
American Woodturner June 2024
F E AT U R E
the top surface, and, using a square,
extend it across the ends. Then draw
lines across the ends of the blank and
down the sides ½" (13mm) down from
the top surface. Center-punch the line
intersections on the ends; these will be
your mounting centers.
Draw the outline of the scoop on the
side and on the top of the blank. For a
1-heaping-tablespoon-sized scoop, the
bowl should be 1¾" (44mm) outside
diameter (OD) and 1½" (38mm) inside
diameter (ID). The bowl top opening is
cut to 1¼" (32mm) to account for the
curvature of the scoop.
Mount the blank,
1st orientation
A simple wood or medium-density fiberboard (MDF) faceplate disk is used for
the first mounting of the scoop blank.
The disk diameter can be 10" (25cm) or
larger. I fastened a counterweight block
to the disk to help reduce vibration. The
counterweight shown in Photo 2 measures 2" square by 3" (8cm) long, which
has proved sufficient for a good balance.
Position the scoop blank on the faceplate with the tailstock pressing against
the center point of the bowl. Then fasten
the blank to the faceplate using beads
of hot-melt glue (Photos 2, 3). Only a few
spot beads are needed for a secure mount;
a continuous line of hot-melt glue is not
needed and would make removal of the
blank unnecessarily difficult.
As an alternative, it is also possible
to hold the scoop blank in a four-jaw
scroll chuck. See Alternate Holding
Method sidebar.
Attach blank to faceplate
2
With the workpiece held
in place with tailstock
pressure, the author
uses beads of hot-melt
glue to fasten it in place.
For better holding
results, use a hot-melt
glue gun with a 60-watt
or higher rating. Note
the short counterweight
block, which helps to
balance the turning and
reduce vibration.
3
Alternate Holding Method – Splines
If you don’t want to make a dedicated faceplate disk
for mounting the work, you can also mount the
blank in a scroll chuck. To give the chuck something
to grab onto, you’ll need to either glue a separate
spline to the blank bottom or form a spline from
the blank itself, which would entail starting with a
thicker workpiece (Photo a). In either case, I center
the splines by trimming them on a table saw, running both sides along the fence to cut the same
amount off of each side (Photo b). The spline thickness is matched to the chuck opening.
(a) A spline, either added by way
of glue (top) or formed out of the
original blank (bottom), provides
a way of holding the blank in a
chuck for hollowing.
a
(b) Alternating passes on a table
saw centers the spline
b
Prepare for hollowing
Hollow the bowl
Define the top edge, or rim, of the bowl
with a parting tool to a depth of about
⅛" (3mm) (Photo 4). Make two cuts with
a thin-blade tool to define both the OD
and ID of the bowl’s opening.
Drill a depth-indicator hole
using a ⅜" (6mm) bit held in a drill
chuck mounted in the tailstock (Photo
5). Drill the hole 1" (25mm) deep.
woodturner.org
4
With the tailstock removed, use a thin
parting tool to define in OD and ID of the
bowl’s rim.
5
Drill a depth-indicator hole. A tape marker
on the bit limits the depth to 1".
23
Start hollowing the bowl with a
spindle gouge. I used a ½" gouge,
making push cuts to the bowl’s
bottom. Then, using a back cut,
the bowl sides can be cut to a
spherical shape. Complete the
hollowing with a round nose
scraper (Photos 6-8). As you
hollow the bowl, check the depth
periodically with the side outline
marking for reference (Photos 9, 10).
Finally, confirm the inside shape
using a half-round template cut to
1½" OD (Photo 11).
Sand the inside of the scoop’s bowl.
Remove the blank from the mounting
disk using a small chisel to cut the hot-melt
glue beads and pry it off (Photos 12, 13).
Hollow the bowl
6
7
The author uses a spindle gouge and round nose scraper to hollow the bowl of the scoop.
8
Confirm depth and shape
9
10
A simple shopmade jig comprising a piece of wood and a dowel is used to gauge the
depth of the bowl. Holding it against the side view drawing on the blank accurately
shows the progress.
11
A half-round template is used to confirm
the interior curve.
Remove blank from
faceplate
A chisel will break away the hot-melt glue spots
and pry the workpiece from the faceplate disk.
12
13
24
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F E AT U R E
Mount in spindle orientation
14
Dark lines are added to indicate where to
cut away waste wood. The bowl’s rim is
darkened as a visual aid while it is spinning.
Mount the blank,
2nd orientation
Trim the blank on a bandsaw to
remove waste material, which will
facilitate the turning to finished
form. Draw cutlines on the blank to
guide the bandsaw cuts. Also, mark
the top edge, or rim, of the bowl
with a black felt pen, as shown in
Photo 14. This will serve as a guide
when shaping the bowl.
The trimmed blank is now ready
for mounting between centers
(Photo 15). It is important that the
tailstock live center be positioned
exactly on the centerline of the bowl
15
The bandsaw-trimmed scoop mounted
between centers, ready for turning.
for the wall thickness to be uniform.
Take trial cuts to check for center
position, and adjust the live center’s
horizontal location as needed.
Start turning the bowl area, using
the intermittent “ghost image” from
the black edge as a visual guide for a
uniform sphere (Photo 16).
Continue rough-turning to form
the handle and bowl shapes, and then
complete the turning to the final
shape (Photos 17, 18). Sand the handle
and part the work from the lathe.
The little end nubs can be sanded off
with a rotary sanding disk mounted in
a drill chuck held in your lathe’s headstock spindle. Sand the top edge of the
bowl to remove the black markings. If
the two side edges of the bowl are not
quite equal, small adjustments can be
made by rotating the scoop to sand the
thinner edge slightly (Photo 19).
Bill Kram is a retired electrical engineer
who worked for General Electric in New
York, Oklahoma, and New Hampshire. He
currently lives in Sun City West, Arizona,
and is a member of AAW, the Arizona
Woodturners, and the Prescott Area
Woodturners. Bill has been an active turner
for more than twenty years.
Refine surfaces
18
With the bowl fully shaped, the author completes the scoop’s handle.
woodturner.org
16
The darkened bowl rim serves as a
visual aid as the author shapes a sphere
for the bowl’s exterior.
Shape handle
17
Shape bowl’s exterior
19
A handy sanding tip! Mount a sanding
disk in a drill chuck held in your lathe’s
headstock spindle.
25
“GALAXY” ACCENT LIGHT
-with-
OPEN-SEGMENTED BASE
Rolland K. Stratton
Mount top to pressure plate
1
2
The top is temporarily affixed to a wood faceplate using double-sided carpet tape.
Tailstock pressure helps to form a good bond.
26
T
he first time I incorporated
light in my woodturning was
when my son gave me some
stained glass for Father’s Day, along
with a quick lesson in cutting it. I
designed a stack-laminated bowl
with a segment ring that featured
the stained glass as “portals,” and
a votive light placed inside the
completed bowl lit up these accent
windows beautifully. More recently,
I was inspired by the recent deepspace photos from NASA’s James
Webb Space Telescope and a trip to
the Corning Museum of Glass in
American Woodturner June 2024
F E AT U R E
Shape top, form chucking recess
3
4
5
The top is shaped and a temporary chucking recess, or mortise, is formed.
Corning, New York. Seeing these
things led me to create a stack-laminated, open-segmented, bowl with
a tapered opening at the top to hold
a 4" (10cm) handblown glass orb
with globs and lines of colored glass
inside. After experimenting with
light sources, I found that a small
puck, or push, light had enough
power to push light through the
bowl’s side openings and up through
the globe. And with that, my own
“galaxy” was formed.
Start at the top
I started with a piece of maple 7½"
(19cm) in diameter with a chucking
tenon. Mounted in my chuck, this
served as a faceplate, or “pressure
plate,” which I flattened and sanded.
To this, I add two pieces of doublesided carpet tape (Photo 1).
I started with the piece that
would become the top, which holds
the glass orb—a piece of white
oak 6¼" (16cm) in diameter and
1¼" (32mm) thick. After cutting it
round on the bandsaw and sanding
both flat surfaces on my bench
sander, I pressed it onto the doublesided tape, aligning it using my
tailstock live center in the center
mark left from my compass
(Photo 2). The tailstock pressure
presses the wood into the tape and
supports the work during turning.
Apply finish and remove top
Reverse-mount top,
form foundation rim
Now the top
is reversemounted using
the recess and
chuck jaws
in expansion
mode. The
wide flat rim
will serve as the
foundation for
the segments
used in the stack
lamination.
7
6
woodturner.org
Prior to removing the top with a drywall
knife, the author applies a Danish oil finish.
I then shaped and shear-cut the
outer design of this top piece. Using
the long point of a skew point, I
marked the outer edge and depth
of a mortise in the bottom of the
blank. Using a small bowl gouge,
I hollowed most of the mortise
opening (Photos 3-5). Finally, I
removed the tailstock and cut the
mortise to its final shape. Note
that making cuts that press the
workpiece into the tape (toward the
headstock) is safer than cuts that
might pull it away. After sanding
through the grits and applying
Danish oil, I removed the top from
the glue strips using a small drywall
skimming blade (Photos 6, 7).
8
27
Add first segment layer
I remounted the turned top using
the mortise as a chucking recess,
expanding my chuck jaws into this
recess. I then hollowed the center of
the top to about ⅞" (22mm) depth,
leaving a 1"- (25mm-) wide rim as a
foundation for attaching the open
segments. Make certain this outer
rim is truly flat. After sanding this
side through the grits, I oiled the
small dish shape in the center
(Photo 8). Applying finish at this
stage protects that area of the wood
from any glue that might drip and
leave a stain. However, there should
be no oil on the rim, where you will
glue the first layer of segments.
I had cut and prepared a variety
of segments for my artistic palette.
The segments were all ¼" (6mm)
thick , ⅞" wide, and 1⅞" (48mm)
long on the top outside corners.
These were cut at a 10-degree
angle on my table saw sled. I had
separate containers for segments of
bloodwood, cherry, purpleheart,
sapele, walnut, ash, oak, butternut,
canarywood, and pau grandis. I
like to be playful when creating
designs, often trying out a variety
of unglued rings to several levels
and rearranging pieces in a variety
Mark for segment placement
9
10
The author uses a clock-making template (from Klockit) to mark off segment locations
and an inside ledger line.
of patterns before selecting my final
wood colors and patterns.
I placed a paper clock-making template on top of the foundation rim to
mark lines where the twelve segments
would be glued. I then added a ledger
line with a compass by scribing a circle
around the inside edge of the rim
(Photos 9, 10). This helped me to accurately align the inner edge of the segments at the first level as I glued them
in place (Photo 11).
Add layers progressively
I carefully checked that my chosen
segments were in the correct order
throughout the gluing process. After
selecting each piece, I sanded away
any torn grain and ensured all pieces
were dust-free. I decided to repeat the
base pattern on each of the additional
layers (for a total of nine segment
layers). Except for using the marked
edge lines for the first level, the subsequent pieces were carefully placed
by eye, and I made final adjustments
to the segment openings before the
glue set up (Photo 12). In this design,
each subsequent level was added to
the right of the existing segments,
giving the bowl a swirling, or stairstep, pattern.
Glue on 1st three layers
11
12
An assortment of precut segments in various wood species is a color palette, with which the
author chooses a pattern for the open stack lamination.
28
13
The first three layers are arranged and
glued. Pressure is applied via a weight
and flat board.
American Woodturner June 2024
F E AT U R E
I used a small paintbrush to apply
a light layer of glue to each segment
where it would make contact with
the segment below it. I experienced
no glue squeeze-out. My workbench
has a cardboard cover, so I don’t
need to scrape the old glue off of its
maple top, and it also protects my
designs from being marked by the
hardwood.
I placed a thin board with a
weight on top over the glued
segments until the glue had
dried (Photo 13). This and every
subsequent level was carefully
sanded and cleaned before the
next level was glued on. I used a
flat sanding board to level each
segment layer while the piece was
still in the chuck.
After gluing the first three
levels, I mounted the work on the
lathe using the chuck once again
in expansion mode and added a
pressure plate held in place with
tailstock pressure. This plate would
support the outer cut and make
turning the outside a much safer
process. I cut the outer profile I
wanted and gave it a final shear-cut
(Photos 14-15).
I removed the pressure plate
and carefully turned the inside
of the open-segment rings. A
progressive approach keeps the
cutting close to the uppermost
levels, so I didn’t have to reach
deeply into the bowl. I used a bowl
gouge to turn the inside levels
at 1200 rpm, which is the same
lathe speed I used on the outside.
Especially on the inside, make very
light cuts. I cut toward the chuck
to avoid the possibility of a pull cut
catching a layer and blowing the
segments apart.
Using this process of turning
three levels at a time also helped
me to know exactly where my ½"
(13mm) bowl wall was located, so I
could adjust the placement of the
woodturner.org
Turn 1st three layers
14
15
The work thus far is mounted on the lathe with a pressure plate applied with tailstock
pressure. Both the outside profile and inside are turned, the inside using push cuts
toward the chuck.
Turn 2nd three layers
16
17
After the next three layers are glued onto the assembly, the work is returned to the lathe
and turned both outside and in.
Glue on last set of layers
18
19
At the workbench, the last three layers are glued on, continuing the stepwise pattern.
Again, the weight and flat board provide gluing pressure.
29
next segments to create the developing shape I desired. The width of
these segments provided enough
material for me to change the shape
of the design on the fly. My bowls
are playful in color selection and
shape, and they are not rigorously
engineered.
I glued the next three levels using
the same procedure. I adjusted the
placement of the segments to create
the desired shape of the design. The
emerging bowl was returned to the
lathe after the third level was added.
As before, I turned that level using
the safety pressure plate held in
place by the tailstock, then removed
the pressure plate to access and shape
the inside. The final shaping cut and
then a series of shear-cuts blended
the six levels (Photos 16, 17).
After sanding the top level flat and
true, I returned the piece to my workbench to add the final three layers
using the same gluing process (Photos
18, 19). I returned to the lathe to turn
the final segment layers, outside and
in, using a freshly sharpened gouge
(Photos 20, 21). After each section was
turned, I was careful to clean all dust
and shavings from the piece in preparation for the next gluing.
Turn last set of layers
20
21
Now with nine segment layers assembled, the work is returned to the lathe and turned
outside and in.
Add the base
I decided that the tenth and final ring
would be a solid ring from figured
white oak to match the top. This last
ring would become the actual base of
the piece.
I cut the solid base ring to the right
diameter to match the outside of the
last segment ring and mounted it on
the pressure plate with double-sided
tape, pressing it tight using tailstock
pressure. I trued its outer edge, cut
and sanded the disk’s surface, and cut
an inner circle with a sharp parting
tool, which resulted in a 1" solid ring
(Photo 22). I removed the ring from
the plate with the drywall blade and
confirmed its placement on the last
segment ring (Photo 23).
After checking again that the ring’s
surface was true, I placed a light layer
of glue on top of each of the nine segments, centered it on the ring aligned
with the grain orientation of the top,
and added a weight until the glue was
dry (Photo 24). I then mounted the
work back in the chuck and shaped the
final solid ring to complete the base
(Photos 25, 26).
Open the top
To reverse-mount the work in order
to make the opening in the top, I
Turn and part base ring
22
Material for the base ring is affixed to the
wood faceplate using strips of doublesided tape and tailstock pressure. The
author uses a parting tool to form the
base ring.
Glue base ring to
segment assembly
23
The ring is dry fit on the turned segment
assembly.
24
The author glues the segment
assembly onto the base ring using
weights for gluing pressure.
30
American Woodturner June 2024
F E AT U R E
returned the pressure plate to the
chuck, sanded away any excess
remains from the previous use
of tape, and blew away any dust.
This time I added three pieces of
double-sided tape, because the
wall of the design’s base was thin
with a limited area for the tape to
hold it. Using the centering mark
on the top for alignment, I pressed
the piece squarely into the doublesided tape with the point of the
tailstock live center.
There was room to make the
initial cuts of the tapered edge with
the tailstock in place. I used the old
mortise, or recess, as the outer edge
for holding the glass orb. At 200
rpm, I carefully cut the required
angle into the mortise. I alternated
cutting the outer edge with removing material from the center, which
helped to prevent a catch. As this
cutting pattern was repeated, a
small nub emerged under the live
center point. I continued to remove
material until I was almost through
the opening. I finally removed the
tailstock and used a very sharp
thin parting tool to complete the
cut. The center wood popped out
without binding (Photos 27, 28).
Using the glass orb I had acquired, I
Turn base ring
25
confirmed the angle of my tapered
opening (Photo 29). Thin cuts
can be made if adjustments are
necessary.
I then sanded all surfaces of
the tapered opening and top and
applied Danish oil to the outside
of the segments and into all the
openings, wiping away any excess.
Using the drywall skimming knife
again, I carefully removed the work
from the three pieces of doublesided tape. At the workbench, I
applied more Danish oil to the
inside of the form.
Open the top
27
After the finish had dried, I placed
the lit puck light under the turned
base and topped it with the glass orb.
I love standing back, turning off the
lights, and seeing the beauty of inner
galactic space!
Rolland “Kip” Stratton grew up before
TV. He was allowed to play in his dad’s
woodshop and now practices playful
“what if-ness” in design and tool use.
He teaches in his home shop, never
charges for time and materials, and takes
students without regard for race, age, or
gender self-identification.
Confirm fit of
glass orb
28
The work is once again mounted on the wood faceplate using double-sided tape and
tailstock pressure, this time with the thicker top on the tailstock side. Making careful cuts
and keeping the tailstock in place for as long as possible, remove the center wood to
create an opening in the top.
woodturner.org
26
The base ring, which here looks like a bowl rim, is turned outside and in, and the
author blends the new material with the previously turned layers with careful cuts.
For the inside cuts without tailstock pressure, be sure to make cuts in the direction of
the chuck.
29
The author holds up the 4" glass orb
to check for a well-seated fit. Adjust as
needed with light cuts.
31
Visualize Designs with CAD Before Turning
C
AD (computer-aided design)
is the use of computers to
design 2D and 3D models of
real-world objects. Although CAD has
gained in popularity among woodworkers for designing flat-work items
such as bookshelves and tables, the
use of CAD for woodturning has not
received much attention. There are
several CAD programs on the market.
I use Fusion 360 CAD software from
Autodesk (V.2.0.18961) to test various
design ideas such as shape, grain
direction, wood choice, and finishes
before turning the item at the lathe.
If I design pieces on the fly at the
lathe, my impromptu results can be
arbitrary and unappealing. However,
if I design with CAD beforehand, my
results are more aesthetically pleasing. Once I finalize a design, I print
dimensioned drawings and use calipers to transfer those dimensions to
the actual turning.
For example, Photo 1 shows a photorealistic CAD model of a lidded vase, and
Free CAD Software Available Online!
There is currently a free version of Autodesk’s Fusion 360 CAD software available for personal,
non-commercial use for both Windows and Macintosh operating systems. Check it out at
autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/personal.
CAD model
vs. actual
turned piece
1
A CAD model of a vase
(left) compares closely
to the author’s actual
turned work (right). All
elements of the design
were fully visualized via
CAD prior to turning.
2
Shape:
designing
progressively
From left to right,
the first, second, and
third proposed CAD
designs of a finial. The
one at far right was the
chosen design.
3
4
5
32
Ron Giordano
Photo 2 shows the actual turned vase.
Using CAD, I adjusted the shape, wood
choice, and decorative features of the
vase until I was pleased with the design
prior to actual turning. CAD allows me
to focus 100% on design during the
modeling stage and 100% on execution
during the turning stage. I find this singular focus per stage improves both the
design and execution of my turnings.
Visualize design options
The design elements of shape, wood
selection, and grain orientation can be
explored using CAD. Although design
is a personal choice, it’s helpful to look
at other people’s designs to understand
the elements and proportions that
make them pleasing to your eye. From
that learning, you can develop your
own design aesthetic.
Shape
CAD can be used to progressively
improve the shape of turned objects.
For example, Photo 3 shows the initial
design of a finial which is poorly
shaped and unbalanced. The second
version (Photo 4) is an improvement
with a more interesting bulb but still
ungainly. The third version (Photo 5) is
more sophisticated and, with continued refinement, will be ready to turn.
Wood selection
A nice feature of CAD is that the wood
species can be easily changed to visualize the design and improve the appearance of the turning. The modeled
vase in Photo 6 lacks contrast, interest, and harmony. The second model
(Photo 7) is better; the wood choices
are more coordinated, the silver pins
complement the silver top, and the
black bands set-off the middle ring
nicely. I can now go to the lathe and
focus solely on the technical aspects of
American Woodturner June 2024
F E AT U R E
cutting the wood since the design has
already been established.
The use of CAD for woodturning has not received much attention.
Grain orientation
CAD can also be used to visualize the
grain pattern on a turning, depending
on the pith location. For example, CAD
models can show the distinctive grain patterns for an endgrain vase with the pith at
the center (Photo 8), a facegrain vase with
the pith intersecting the side (Photo 9), and
a facegrain vase with the pith just above
the top edge (Photo 10). Although experienced turners are aware of these patterns,
it is still instructive to visualize and rotate
these models to mentally associate how
the location of a vase within a log determines the resulting grain pattern.
Visualize
wood choice
6
7
Two CAD designs allow
for full consideration of
wood species. At left, a
plain-looking vase and at
right, an improved design
showing the effect of
figured wood and wellcoordinated features.
Visualize grain orientation
Modeling basics
There are three key steps in creating a
CAD model. First, a 2D sketch of the
profile is made (Photo 11); second, the
profile is revolved around the turning
axis to create a 3D model (Photo 12); and
third, the wood appearance is specified
(Photo 13). To help you get started, I’ve
made a detailed tutorial on making a
simple vase using CAD. See the sidebar for
download details. Give it a try. It’s fun!
Ron Giordano is a retired chemical engineer
who lives in Granger, Indiana. He enjoys
making both flatwork and turned items. He
learned the basics of CAD several years ago
from his son. Ron’s work can be seen on his
website, rongiordano.com; on Instagram,
@ron_giordano_woodworking; and on
YouTube, @onemorecut7749.
Downloadable
Fusion 360
Tutorial!
Ron Giordano has created a
detailed and illustrated tutorial
on the use of Fusion 360 CAD software to
help you get started successfully. Download
the tutorial PDF from the
AAW website. Log on and
visit tiny.cc/AWextras or scan
the QR code.
woodturner.org
8
9
10
12
13
CAD renderings showing the effects on grain of pith placement. Endgrain form with
pith at center (left); facegrain form with pith intersecting side (middle); and facegrain
form with pith above the rim (right).
CAD process
11
CAD renderings derive from a simple process. Begin with a sketch of your desired shape
or curve in 2D profile. That 2D shape is used to create a 3D object to which you can
apply the appearance of wood grain or other color.
33
SMOKE A BOWL (LITERALLY)!
Beth Ireland
D
uring my years of teaching the
eight-week Turning Intensive
at The Center for Furniture
Craftsmanship (CFC) in Rockport,
Maine, several fun activities that
enhance camaraderie have become
tradition. My favorite (for those who
are not vegetarian) is smoking a variety of meats using the wood chips and
shavings generated during wet bowl
week. On that day, we light the fire at
8:00 a.m. and keep it going until 5:00
p.m., at which point our class enjoys a
potluck dinner together.
An idea from ceramics
I have always felt that experiences
equal creative ideas. While teaching at
Peters Valley School of Craft (Layton,
New Jersey), I have been able to visit the
ceramics studio’s firing of their anagama
kiln and talk to the participants.
Anagama is a wood-firing process. When
the participants put their clay bowls
in the anagama kiln for a multiple-day
firing, they have no idea how the surface
MORE ON THE CFC!
What’s New
in Woodturn
ing Instructio
n?
F E AT U
Joshua Friend
To learn more about
O
woodturning and craft at
The Center for Furniture
Craftsmanship, use the
AAW’s Explore! search
tool to find these valuable
resources. Log on at
woodturner.org!
• “What’s New
in Woodturning
Instruction?” by Joshua
Friend, October 2013 AW
(vol 28, no 5, page 33)
• “Book Review: Why We Make Things
and Why It Matters: The Education of a
Craftsman by Peter Korn [CFC’s founder],
June 2014 AW (vol 29, no 3, page 11)
Center for
Photo: Mark
Furniture
Juliana
Craftsmans
hip, Rockport,
Maine
ver the past
twenty years,
the Center
woodturn
for Furniture
ers are older
Craftsmanship
(retired) hobbyists, and
(CFC) in
Rockport,
not surprisin
Maine, has
The Beth
the available
gly most
built a solid
Ireland connec
tion in the
of
instructio
reputaThe intensive
developm
n caters to
market. Many
tion
ent of fine
woodturn
craftsman
that
furniture
professional
ship. Not
ing course
CFC will
ers, after
one to sit on
cover many
at
rels, Peter
gaining enough woodturnhis laufacets of becomKorn, CFC’s
ing a profession
generate
experience,
founder and
utive director,
al turner.
income by
execan accompli
Beth
teaching
is expandin
onstratin
shed profession Ireland,
offering in
g the school’s
g for the hobbyist and dem- the
woodturn
al, will be
instructo
by becomin
ing instructio
market, not
r. To get a
school is not
g dedicated
better undern. The But
standing
new
practition
of the
Korn’s vision
ing—it routinely to teaching woodturn
ers.
course, I caught significance of this
employs an
demographics. goes beyond the
new
list of faculty.
up with Beth
impressiv
Purchase
e
But beginnin
at SUNY
icated professio He maintains that
, where she
2014, students
g in January
dedwas the artist
will
the appropria nal turners who possess residence. It doesn’t
in
12-week intensive be able to take a new
take long
te
stand that
build relationsh skills and who can
woodturn
she is an inspired to undergeared toward
ing course
ips with architect
who, as Korn
profession
teacher
designers
puts it, makes
al turning.
course will
s,
, and custom
The
that you can
cover a broad
you believe
builders have
the opportun
achieve
curriculum
including
ity to thrive
anything
architectu
,
her optimism
. I found
and economi
creatively
ral work; produccontagiou
tion technique
cally.
s.
Beth got her
s for faceplate,
I wanted to
and endgrain
start in carpentry
spindle,
see
than thirty
work; furniture
shop in action, CFC’s woodturning
more
years ago
nents; milling
compoand is no
so
to hard work
with other
stranger
month comprehe I visited while the
and long
woodwor
machines
nine- Her
productio
king
nsive furniture
for stock preparatio
abilities are
students were
n runs.
program
and joinery;
obvious. Her
n, forming,
doing their
teacher is
sharpenin
goal as a
one week
woodturn
not just to
g; tool-maki
and business
of
ing. The facility
impart the
ng;
skills needed
practices.
specific
sive, with
As such, the
for predefine
course represents
twelve Oneway is impresshe intends
d projects;
1640 lathes
for students,
to
typical woodturn a bold departure from
plus one for
W Othe
Osatisfactio
D T U Rhelp
N Estudents
R S C experienc
H AT T E R
demonstr
ing instructio
purposes.
e
n
ation
A course
I witnessed
n.
problem solving,of creativity through
specifical
Stephen Gleasner
teaching the
ly geared
a career in
so they can
furniture
toward
what they
woodturn
students spindle
create
turning skills,
envision.
ing? This
my interest.
One of her
piqued
such as beads,
class projects
Demogra
first
pommels
coves, and
phically,
is tool-mak
, which are
most
ing that stock
ing, emphasiz
likely
furniture
tools tend
projects (Photos to be useful in
to create stock
end products,
1, 2).
woodturn
and
er.org
grinds) increase custom tools (and
possibilit
ies.
Book Review: Why We Make Things and Why It Matters:
The Education of a Craftsman by Peter Korn,
David R. Godine Publisher, 2013, 200 pages
Someone once described Peter Korn
as a smart man. After reading his new
book, Why We Make Things and Why It
Matters: The Education of a Craftsman, I
consider that an understatement. Twenty
years ago, Korn founded the Center for
Furniture Craftsmanship (CFC) (AW,
vol 28, no 5), organized it as a nonprofit
school, and strategically placed himself
within the institution to ensure its
ongoing success and his own employment, doing what he loves. On the surface
and taken as isolated events, those actions
sound simply like good career moves,
but in the context of his new book, they
represent the culmination of a life punctuated by serious health issues, supported
by a persistent love of craft, and open to
continually reinventing himself.
Unlike Korn’s first book, Working
With Wood: The Basics of Craftsmanship
(Taunton Press), his new book is not
instructional, unless considered existentially; How to Make a Good Life could well
be its sub-subtitle. The overt theme is that
the act of making objects, with conscious
investment of self, fulfills the human
spirit. Korn parallels that narrative with
the inspirational story of how he crafted
his own life, giving the book depth.
Korn asks big questions framed in
broad contexts: What gives objects
meaning? How and why do we create
those objects? He also discusses the
nature of identity and selfhood and
how objects inevitably result from a
confluence of factors, deftly placing
the discussion into historical context.
For those involved in creative work—
woodturning, furniture making, pottery,
glasswork, writing—Korn’s initial thesis
is not an untold secret. He notes early in
the text that students who attend CFC
“do not invest time, money, and effort
traveling to Maine to cut dovetails with
hand tools because they need hardwood
benches, which are the introductory-class
projects. What lures them is the hope of
finding a deeper meaning by learning to
make things well with their own hands.”
The act of creating is fulfilling and nourishing and makers undergo change in the
process: We are the maker and the object
being made. Creative activity is a vehicle
for self-transformation.
Korn is skilled at voicing concepts
that many makers and consumers only
know intuitively: Objects are the material
expression of ideas and values, whether
art, craft, or mass-produced. He shines a
Arrowmont Purchases Historic Campus
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts is
pleased to announce the school’s Board
of Governors has purchased its historic
campus in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, from
the Pi Beta Phi Fraternity for Women.
“We are grateful to those who have made
it clear that they believe in Arrowmont’s
future as much as they value its rich
history,” says Arrowmont’s executive
director Bill May. Key donors to purchase
the campus are the City of Gatlinburg,
Sevier County, the Windgate Charitable
woodturner.org
Foundation, and numerous individual
donors including the Arrowmont
Board and staff. Gifts ranged from $3.5
million to $5.
“All levels of giving are important,”
May adds. “It’s the heartfelt donation of
$5 from a retiree or teenage woodturner
that helps convince municipalities like
the City of Gatlinburg—which contributed $3.5 million—or foundations
like Windgate—which contributed a
matching grant of $2.25 million—that
spotlight on the
designing and
33
making of objects
to remind us they
are the result of
a multitude of
decisions on
Photo: Mark
the part of the
LeFavor
maker, inevitably
influenced by his or her existence in a particular time and place. (And you thought
it was just a refrigerator!) Offering these
kernels of truth that reside outside of our
everyday awareness makes Korn’s book a
rewarding read.
The ideas in Why We Make Things are
perceptive and well informed. The tone is
erudite, yet accessible to thoughtful readers.
Korn had already proven himself as a furniture maker, designer, teacher, writer, and
administrator. With this insightful and
well-crafted book, he has risked and gained
more as an author, and in doing so offers a
roadmap toward a fulfilling life.
—Joshua Friend
Tim Yoder’s Woodturning
Show Returns
Tim Yoder, star of Woodturning Workshop, is back
with a new, bi-weekly show called Woodturning With
Tim Yoder. Viewers can watch the half-hour episodes
at popularwoodturning.com.
their larger contributions are necessary,
justified and well spent.”
The American Association of
Woodturners was born on the front
porch of Arrowmont’s dining hall
27 years ago. That shared history has
been vital and important to both organizations, and benefits a growing international community of woodturners. For
more information about Arrowmont or
to view 2014 workshop offerings, visit
arrowmont.org.
11
RE
will turn out. The results depend on temperature and placement in the kiln.
I thought about this a lot and realized
how similar the process is to smoking
meat, where the charcoal goes in a side
box (heat source) and the meat (or any
object being smoked) goes on the rack. At
the far side opposite the side box is a vent
pipe (Photo 1). By opening and closing the
vents near the coals, you can control the
air flow over the coals, which ultimately
controls the temperature. The smoke
vent also has a cap that can be opened
and closed in unison with the coal vent
to move the heat and smoke across whatever you have placed on the rack. The
items closer to the side box cook quicker,
whereas items closer to the vent pipe at
the other end cook slower, with a lower
temperature and, importantly, longer
exposure to the smoke.
I had first tried smoking a woodturned bowl in the meat smoker a
couple of years ago. The first one came
out a beautiful brown. I periodically
rotated the bowl to expose all sides to
the smoke being drawn to the vent
pipe. The interior of the bowl remained
its natural wood color, as the smoke
could not cross over its surface. Moving
the exterior surface of the bowl every
half hour toward the smoke gave a nice
even dark brown on the surface.
The smoke is controlled by whatever
you put on the coals. During the
34
woodturning intensive, we usually turn
maple or cherry during bowl week, as
those are wood species local to Maine.
We collect the chips and shavings, trying
not to pick up any unwanted debris from
the floor. We then put the shavings into a
bucket of water (Photo 2). After the initial
lighting of the fire, we put a handful of
lump charcoal on the fire in the smoke
box every half hour all day and add wet
chips to keep the smoke constant. The
smoke adds flavor to the meat and, as I
had discovered, color to anything on the
rack. By opening the vent on the vent
pipe, you can pull the smoke through
the smoker. I have found over the years
that items near the vent pipe get the most
color (Photo 3).
Mask to create patterns
My prior experience with fabric batiking
made me aware of the idea of achieving
a pattern by putting something to resist
the color from being added to an object
(like masking during painting). I tried
different resist, or masking, materials and
finally came to furnace tape. It stands up
to heat and does not leave residue on the
wood surface after it is peeled away.
Whatever areas of the wood you
cover with the furnace tape remain the
wood’s natural color, and all exposed
areas are colored by the smoke. As you
might imagine, this technique offers
lots of creative possibilities (Photos 4, 5).
American Woodturner June 2024
F E AT U R E
I like to use this method on maple, as
it results in a very noticeable color contrast. Some students tried the method
on cherry and were also happy, but
with a more subtle outcome.
During this last winter session,
everyone tried making one. We cut out
designs from the furnace tape and stuck
them to the surface of our turned bowls
before adding them to the meat smoker.
Considerations
Our bowls were turned wet and had
air-dried for two weeks before smoking.
I have also tried this technique on kilndried wood with the same success.
I have made multiple elliptical bowls
that were created by cutting apart and
gluing the two sides of a bowl back
together. See Beth Ireland’s AW February
2022 article, “Make an Elliptical Vessel”
(vol 37, no 1, page 26). When smoking
glued items, I add some kind of
mechanical fastener such as a spline,
rivet, or even sewing, as most glues are
sensitive to heat (Photo 6).
The coloring effect takes place only on
the surface of the wood. If you sand it,
the new color will be removed. However,
it does take protective finishes very well.
I have used polyurethanes and also
waxes on smoked surfaces.
My students had a lot of fun exploring this technique. So, the next time
you’re having a cookout, try smoking
a bowl to see what creative results you
can achieve!
Color bowls in a meat smoker
1
A typical meat smoker, with
a coal (or heat) box, smoke
chamber, and vent pipe at the
far end.
woodturner.org
3
Woodturned items are added
to the upper rack in the smoke
chamber, positioned near the
vent pipe for maximum smoke
exposure.
Mask areas with furnace tape
(4) Prior to smoking
their bowls, the
author’s students
applied shapes cut in
furnace tape to create
masked patterns.
4
5
(5) Any area covered
by the furnace
tape remained the
wood’s natural color,
and all exposed
areas were colored
by the smoke.
The smoke adds flavor to the meat and, as I had
discovered, color to anything on the rack.
Take caution
with glued items
To learn more about The Center for
Furniture Craftsmanship, visit
woodschool.org.
Beth Ireland, a professional architectural
woodturner and sculptor with more than
thirty years of experience, lives and works
in St. Petersburg, Florida. She teaches the
two-month Turning Intensive at The Center
for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine, as
well as workshop classes at major craft
centers around the country. For more, visit
bethireland.net.
2
The author’s students
collect their wood
shavings and chips
after wet-turning
bowls and soak them
in water before using
them to flavor the
meat in the smoker.
Wood glues are generally sensitive
to heat, so take care if you intend to
try this technique on any turnings
that have been glued together,
such as these elliptical bowls. The
author suggests reinforcing glue
joints with mechanical fasteners.
6
35
Photo: Daniel Michalik
A cork oak tree in a protected forest
in central Portugal called Companhia
das Lezírias, April 2022.
AS THE
(SUSTAINABLE!) CORK TURNS
Scott Hendricks
I
have enjoyed woodturning for
more than forty years and have
worked with many species of
wood, but I had never turned cork.
In fact, I had never heard of using
cork as a turning material until Peters
Valley School of Craft in Layton, New
Jersey, offered a weekend class on the
subject, taught by Daniel Michalik. I
jumped at the opportunity.
About cork
In preparation for the class, I did a
little research.
The primary source of cork is the
bark of the cork oak tree (Quercus
suber), which grows primarily in
countries along the Mediterranean
Sea. I learned that Portugal
produces 70% of the world’s cork.
Portugal practices sustainable forest
management to protect and grow
their forests.
The cork oak has a thick outer bark
that protects it from temperature fluctuations, droughts, and brush fires.
The bark is soft, fire resistant, buoyant,
lightweight, rot resistant, and impermeable to liquids (Photo 1).
The bark is stripped from trees
that are at least twenty-five years
old. These mature trees can have
their bark harvested every nine
years. This stripping actually
36
promotes the tree’s growth and
prolongs its life; in fact, cork oaks
can grow for 300 years. Once
harvested, the bark/cork is washed,
boiled, and flattened, making it
softer and easier to work with.
The average cork thickness is
approximately 2" (5cm) (Photo 2).
The primary product is bottle
corks, which are punched from the
cork bark (Photo 3). After the bottle
corks have been cut out, the cork
scraps are ground into ¼" (6mm)
pieces, as shown in Photo 4, and
are mixed with a binder, placed
in large molds, heated in ovens,
and pressed into workable blocks.
American Woodturner June 2024
F E AT U R E
The finished blocks can be made
into a variety of products, such as
flooring, craft projects, bulletin
boards, etc. Cork is an excellent
insulator against temperature and
sound and is frequently used in
building construction throughout
Europe. As buildings are renovated
or demolished, the reclaimed cork is
repurposed (Photo 5). Up to 10% of
recycled cork is added to virgin cork
to increase the production yield.
There are primarily two types of
cork: hard and soft. The difference
derives from the manufacturing
process. Dimensionally, a block of hard
cork weighs 130 lbs. (60kg), while a
block of soft cork the same size weighs
65 lbs. (29.4kg), or one-half the weight
of hard cork.
From the tree
1
Examples of cork bark without and with
the outer layer intact (left and right,
respectively).
2
The average cork bark thickness is
approximately 2" after it is stripped from
the tree.
From scraps to usable blocks
The Peters Valley class
At the start of our class at Peters
Valley, on display were three large
blocks of cork, cork circles, along with
different examples of cork turnings.
The large blocks were soft cork, while
the cork circles were cut from a block
of hard cork.
The large blocks of cork each had
lines marked on them, indicating
where each block would be cut into
six smaller pieces on a bandsaw
(Photo 6). Each student in the class
was given a piece and coached on the
types of projects we could turn. Most
of the students had previous turning
experience and this showed in their
finished projects.
Mounting cork on the lathe
Our first step in turning the cork
was to determine the best way to
mount it on the lathe. Similar to
normal wood—cork is actually a
type of wood—it can be mounted
via a spigot (chucking tenon),
mortise, jam chuck, or faceplate.
When contemplating how to secure
the piece on the lathe, remember
that cork compresses much more
woodturner.org
3
4
After bottle corks are punched from the cork oak bark, the scraps are ground into small
pieces and pressed into workable blocks.
Cork is sometimes reclaimed from
renovation or demolition projects
and then repurposed. Some recycled
cork is added to virgin cork during the
manufacturing process to increase
production yield.
5
than wood, which presents unique
considerations. In fact, I learned that
after being crushed under a pressure
of 14,000 pounds per square inch
(PSI), cork will regain 90% of its
original size in twenty-four hours.
Class materials
Spigot, or chucking tenon
The spigot approach failed for
several students since the chuck jaws
expanded to just 2" (5cm), limiting
the diameter of the spigot. This was
inadequate to hold the soft cork.
6
Class materials included blocks of both
soft and hard cork, as well as rounds.
37
Attempts to the save the spigots with
cyanoacrylate (CA) glue were not
successful since the spigot was then
out of alignment with the turning.
Therefore, use large spigots to support
the piece.
Hard vs. soft cork
Mortise, or recess
A mortise, or recess for accepting the
chuck jaws in expansion mode, can
be a successful solution so long as the
shoulder is sufficiently wide and deep
to support the piece being turned.
7
8
The bowl on the left was turned from hard cork, while the bowl on the right was turned
from soft cork. Due to differences in density, hard cork weighs about twice the weight
of soft cork.
Jam chuck
Depending on the piece being
turned, a jam chuck can be a good
solution since the pressure is compressing the cork.
Faceplate
The standard faceplate we were
using at Peters Valley—2½" to 3"
(6cm to 8cm) in diameter—was
expanded via a plywood wasteblock fastened to the faceplate. This
allowed for the attachment screws
to be placed farther apart, ensuring a secure attachment to the
cork workpiece. The screws should
penetrate the cork by at least 1½"
(38mm).
gouges and skews. The material cuts
quickly and smoothly. With sharp
tools, there is virtually no tearout.
The hard cork supports more turned
detail such as beads in the piece, but
soft cork not as much.
I tried a spiral/texturing tool to
see what would happen. When I
pressed the tool into the hard cork,
I observed the cork compressing.
As soon as I removed the tool, the
intended texture design was gone.
Protect yourself
from the dust
Vacuum chuck
I experimented with the use of a
vacuum chuck and found it very successful for reverse-mounting a bowl to
remove the spigot.
Turning cork
When turning cork, very sharp tools
are essential, but with sharp tools,
the hard cork cuts easily. With soft
cork, more care must be taken so as
not to cut too deeply. Cork doesn’t
have grain like regular wood, so it
is uniform throughout. There is no
need to worry about sidegrain vs.
endgrain.
Cork turns easily with conventional woodturning tools such as
9
Conventional woodturning tools work
very well on cork, but don’t expect
the long shavings you might get from
regular wood. Turning and sanding
cork produces a fine dust, so be sure
to use adequate dust collection and
personal protection equipment (PPE)
to protect your lungs.
38
There was no mark left in the cork.
This was due to the elasticity of the
cork. I experienced the same results
with the soft cork.
The bowls pictured in Photos 7 and
8 were turned in our class. The bowl
in Photo 7 was made from hard cork,
while the bowl in Photo 8 was made
from soft cork. Although it may be
difficult to see the difference in the
photos, the hard cork has a tighter
composition, allowing for cleaner cuts
and finer detail elements. Although
these bowls are about the same size,
the hard cork bowl weights almost
twice as much. This is a result of the
density of the hard cork vs. the soft.
A hot wire was used to embellish the
hard cork bowl with burn lines.
When turning and sanding cork,
serious dust protection is in order.
Cork dust is fine and unlike the dust
produced when turning conventional
wood; there are no long shavings
(Photo 9). Both hard and soft cork
sand very easily, and 220-grit sandpaper yields a smooth surface. When
I experimented with higher grits, it
was difficult to see a significantly
smoother result. This appears to be
due to the granular structure of both
cork types.
Cork can be left unfinished,
stained, or painted. For the hard
American Woodturner June 2024
F E AT U R E
cork bowl in Photo 7, I tried Danish
oil on it, but the oil soaked in
rapidly and just darkened the bowl.
With the soft cork bowl shown in
Photo 8, I sprayed three coats of
semigloss polyurethane and did not
see any significant difference—no
sheen. Only after applying two coats
of shellac did I begin to see a sheen
developing on the bowl. I suspect if
I used shellac as the first two coats,
followed by the polyurethane, it
would have yielded a glossier finish.
Alcohol-based stain worked, as well.
However, cork does not have to be
finished and can be used outdoors
with no impact on the cork.
Class projects
Ours was an introductory class and
most participants had some turning
experience, though none of us had
turned cork. Turning cork is fun,
and project ideas are limited only
by one’s imagination. Photos 10-13
show some examples of the participants’ turnings. Our creativity
resulted in a grooved bowl, a cork
stool with ash legs, a chess piece,
and a wine cooler. Other turnings
(not shown in photos) included
a mallet, cork stoppers for handblown glass vessels, a lidded bowl,
a high stool with a cork seat, and
various bowls.
Aquiring cork for turning
Cork is sold by the block, and you
can select it based on your intended
project. Keep in mind cork can be
laminated with wood glue to create
larger turning blanks, and the glue
lines are virtually invisible after
turning. The material can be turned
surprisingly thin and still have
strength, and it is suitable for indoor
or outdoor use.
Note that price can be a factor,
with a block of hard cork measuring 6½" thick, 37" long, and 25"
wide costing around $360 and soft
woodturner.org
Class projects
10
A grooved bowl by the class instructor,
Daniel Michalik (left), and a stool with a
cork seat, made by Janine Wang.
11
Class projects
12
13
A chess piece and wine cooler, both made by the author.
cork somewhat less than that for a
similarly sized piece (as of October
2023).
If you have difficulty finding cork,
it can be ordered from our class
instructor Daniel Michalik. Find
him on Instagram (@danielmichalik)
and send him a direct message (DM).
Or you can learn more at Daniel’s
website, danielmichalik.com. The
cork is shipped directly to you from a
warehouse in Wisconsin.
Scott Hendricks has been a
woodturner for more than forty
years and is a member of the
Watergap Woodturners, an AAW
chapter in northwestern New Jersey.
He lives on his farm in Blairstown,
New Jersey, with his wife, two
dogs, four cats, ten alpacas, and
three French geese. Along with
turning wood, he grows hay
for the livestock. Email Scott at
hendricks9903@gmail.com.
39
WORKS IN CORK BY DANIEL MICHALIK
Photos courtesy of the artist.
Bacia Grande, 2014,
Cork, 10" × 25"
(25cm × 64cm)
Heavy Bowl, 2019, Cork, 3½" × 11½" (9cm × 29cm)
Totem Vessel Trio,
2019, Cork,
Each: 10" × 7½"
(25cm × 19cm)
Dual Bowls, 2018, Cork, Each:
3" × 8 ½" (8cm × 22cm)
Cork with
milk paint
Praia – Sky and Sea, 2010,
Cork, milk paint, Each:
6" × 12" (15cm × 30cm)
40
American Woodturner June 2024
F E AT U R E
The Life-Inspired Creations of
RON GERTON
Jerry Johnson
T
he multimedia creations of
Washington State’s Ron Gerton
reside in many private collections and museums. The broad range
of his inspired artwork derived from
both his personal interests and professional expertise, a story recounted here
to explain some of the amazing works
from this talented artist.
Engineering and art
Ron humbly worked his way through
college as a checker in a grocery
store and graduated with a degree
in mechanical engineering. Out of
necessity and to earn extra money, he
rebuilt automotive engines and transmissions in high school and during
college. He was the first person in his
family to go to college, and this was
a remarkable feat that would prove
much more difficult with today’s high
tuition rates.
From 1969 to 1975, Ron worked in
Pearl Harbor, Hawai‘i, as a nuclear
engineer, refueling and overhauling
nuclear submarines. He worked there
as a civilian employee for the Navy,
and after six years, he and his family
moved to Richland, Washington, where
he worked for twenty-eight years as a
nuclear engineering manager.
At first glance, engineering and art
may seem like polar opposites. A career
in engineering doesn’t leave a lot of
spare time, yet Ron enjoyed hiking
with his children and occasionally
they would find agates, which they
collected and tumble-polished. His
daughter asked if he could figure out
woodturner.org
Emerging Vessels, 2008, Curly koa,
curly maple, birch, laser-cut maple
scraps, laser-cut black plastic, art
poster segments, 36" × 24" × 4½"
(91cm × 61cm × 11cm)
how to make jewelry out of some of her
favorite agates, so Ron learned how to
work wax and cast the gems into gold
jewelry. That turned out to be easy for
him, and he went on to teach jewelry
casting at the local community college
for more than twenty years.
After Ron’s wife and daughter had
accumulated enough jewelry, they
wanted something to keep it in. Ron
made jewelry boxes out of curly Koa he
had brought back from Hawai‘i. During
this time, he also learned how to restore
the antique furniture they had acquired.
While hiking, Ron would find
contorted pieces of sagebrush, which
reminded him of the bonsai plants
they had seen in Hawai‘i. Sagebrush is
a very weak material, so Ron decided
to cast pieces of it in metal. He built
a bronze casting system and began
casting the sagebrush in bronze. He
then decided to weld several of the
pieces together to form sculptures.
Wood and bronze
Ron Gerton became interested in
woodturning in the early 1990s,
41
Casting sagebrush in bronze
Pieces of dried
sagebrush are used
to create wood/wax
forms that are then
encased in a ceramic
shell into which
molten bronze is
poured.
A Tree Runs Through It, 2005, Western bigleaf
maple burl, cast bronze, polyurethane, 4' × 3' × 3'
(1.2m × 91cm × 91cm)
when a friend introduced him to
the craft. He soon purchased a
Nichols lathe so that his daughter
could have an activity while home
from college for the summer. She
made several nice bowls and vessels,
and shortly after she returned to
college, Ron started to work with
the lathe himself. In a short time,
he was hooked on woodturning and
quickly mastered the turning of very
large hollow vessels. He became so
immersed in woodturning that in
1997 he became a founding member
of the Mid-Columbia Woodturners,
an AAW chapter in Kennewick,
Washington.
Soon Ron started to incorporate
his turned wood vessels into his cast
bronze sculptures and showed them
at AAW Symposia and other conferences. As time progressed, his wood
and bronze artworks became more
complex. A 2005 piece, A Tree Runs
Through It, was made from Western
bigleaf maple burl. These burls tend
to have voids as they form, sometimes
from bark inclusions. Ron used these
natural voids to allow part of the
bronze casting to run through the
inside of the wood vessel and emerge
from the opening that he had created
for hollowing.
Bronze casting is a very time-consuming process. First, Ron has to find
a suitable section of dried sagebrush
for his artwork. The pieces of sagebrush Ron finds are usually too large
for a single casting, so he cuts them
up and makes several smaller castings.
The process starts by adding many
wax sprues (channels) and vent lines.
Once the wax is in place, the whole
assembly is coated with a ceramicand-sand slurry to form a shell. Then
the ceramic shell is placed in an oven,
and the wax and wood are burned
out. The hot ceramic shell is then
filled with molten bronze.
After the casting has cooled, it
is removed from the mold and the
sprues and vent lines are cut off.
Then the bronze pieces are welded
together. Each weld must be ground
to make it conform to the contour of
the sagebrush branch. The final step
is to chemically treat the casting to
produce a dark, even color (called
a patina).
Artworks
Cliff Hanger, 2003, Maple burl, cast bronze,
polyurethane, 3' × 19" × 10" (91cm × 48cm × 25cm)
42
While many of Ron Gerton’s bronze
creations were made to sit on a table
or other flat surface, he has made
some that hang on a wall. His 2003
Cliff Hanger is one example. Another
American Woodturner June 2024
F E AT U R E
creation that hangs down, but from
a shelf, the 2006 Desert Waterfall,
features a multicenter turning (two
hollow vessels in one piece of maple
burl) suspended by a meandering
length of bronze sagebrush.
A truly amazing piece that features an impossibly thin section of
Australian brown mallee burl, is Ron’s
2020 Lean ’n Mean. The burl’s length
stretches 22" (56cm), forming a long
wing that is only 3mm thick, and,
remarkably, a small hollow vessel
resides at one end. This woodturned
piece is suspended at one end only
by more sagebrush cast in bronze. To
form the thin wood wing, Ron used
a router mounted on an x-y table that
sits on the bed of his lathe. The piece
was turned slowly by hand against
the spinning router bit. The result is a
“turning” that elicits comments like,
“How did he do that?” The hollow
vessel was turned and hollowed in the
usual way on the lathe, and to top it
all off, a bronze snake rests near the
hollow form’s small opening.
Ron also turned an enormous
hollow vessel that started with a piece
of maple burl weighing 1100 lbs.
(500 kg). The result was a vessel
titled Big Bertha, which measures 47"
(119cm) in diameter and which was
hollowed through an opening just 3½"
(9cm) wide. The final weight of Big
Bertha is 39 lbs. (17.7 kg). In order to do
the turning, it was necessary to build
a large frame with roller bearings to
support the vessel during hollowing.
De-segmented vessels
Not content to stop when a hollow
vessel was completed, Ron got the idea
to cut it up and reassemble the pieces
into a new form. He calls these works
de-segmented vessels. The original
turned vessel is rotated through a
bandsaw using a jig with an offset
center point. Each piece has the
same thickness, and Ron glues them
together with each section shifted
away from the preceding piece by a set
and consistent distance. Reassembling
all the pieces into one unit results
Desert Waterfall, 2006, Maple burl, cast bronze,
polyurethane, 3' × 19" × 7" (91cm × 48cm × 18cm)
Lean ’n Mean,
2020, Brown
mallee burl, cast
bronze, slate,
polyurethane, 8"
× 22" × 8" (20cm
× 56cm × 20cm)
Big Bertha
Big Bertha, 2002, Bigleaf maple burl,
47" (1.2m) diameter
Starting at 1100 lbs., Big Bertha
required a specially built frame to
support it during hollowing.
woodturner.org
43
Evolution Revolution, 2003, Maple burl, cast
bronze, polyurethane, 31" × 20" × 9"
(79cm × 51cm × 23cm)
Inside Out, 2002, Madrone burl, polyurethane,
31" × 15" × 24" (79cm × 38cm × 61cm)
in a wonderful spiral form, such as
Evolution Revolution.
When Ron assembled the pieces
for Inside Out, he felt that the inside
looked as interesting as the outside.
So this piece, also made from a single
turned hollow form, was reassembled
in three parts, which were positioned
so that both the inside and outside
are displayed.
sayings made from laser-cut letters
(see this article’s opening image).
Another, very large, piece of
Ron’s of this nature measures 8' × 4'
(2.4m × 1.2m) and resides in the lobby
of a local hospital.
Other works
In the process of turning vessels from
maple burl, Ron not surprisingly
Wall art
Curly Sue, 2019, Maple burl shavings, epoxy,
33" × 23" × 9" (84cm × 58cm × 23cm)
generated a huge volume of shavings.
He had a mold of a female figure,
from the neck to the knees, which he
had used for making bronze castings.
Ron decided to use that mold to
make a female form with the wood
shavings. He coated the inside of
the form with wax and filled it with
shavings saturated with epoxy. The
result was Curly Sue.
Corrugated teapot, two views
Another series of Ron’s artwork entails
items that hang on a wall. A former
member of Ron’s local woodturning
chapter made various items using a laser,
including words cut from thin pieces of
wood. One day Ron discovered the trash
from this club member’s laser operations,
which he found to be stunning shapes,
symbols, and colors. Ron got the idea that
these scraps could be assembled to make
art. One of these detailed wall pieces also
incorporated broken segments of turned
work. In Emerging Vessels, there are also
Aces and Spaces, 2014, Cardboard, wood glue, 10" × 12" × 10" (25cm × 30cm × 25cm)
44
American Woodturner June 2024
F E AT U R E
Several years ago, many woodturners began making teapots. Not to
be left out of this trend, Ron made
a turned teapot from cardboard. He
glued up a stack of corrugated cardboard, paying particular attention
to the orientation of the structure of
each layer. The result was quite stunning. From the side, the piece has the
familiar shape of a teapot, but the end
view reveals the hollow structure of
the cardboard.
In 2008, Ron’s entry to the AAW’s
invitational exhibition, The Sphere, was
entitled, This Way, Dear. It featured
a sphere being rolled by two dung
beetles cast in sterling silver. The
sphere was covered with scraps left
over from laser cutting (as mentioned
earlier), and in a moment of
postmodern humor, Ron included on
one scrap the words, “Your Ad Here.”
More recently, Ron created Hold On,
I’m Shifting into 2nd, which reveals an
innovative use of a hollow vessel in
figured maple. The figure trying to
“hold on” is a frog made from sterling
silver. Ironically, the vessel, plus head
and feet, is a turtle.
piece with one of these broken items
as the central element. He added
bronze to the broken vase to complete it, then made a circular disk of
figured maple, cut out a flat section
for the vase to sit upon, and added
silver castings of insects, frogs, and
butterflies.
Over the past twenty-five years,
many artists have appreciated Ron’s
This Way, Dear, 2010, Maple, laser-cut wood
scraps, cast bronze, lacquer, 8" × 11" × 10"
(20cm × 28cm × 25cm)
expertise. Such collaborative interactions continue through events like
Frogwood (Oregon) and the Hawai‘i
Arts Collaboration.
Jerry Johnson is a founding member of the
Mid-Columbia Woodturners. His work has
been on display at various galleries in the
Pacific Northwest.
Hold On, I’m Shifting into 2nd, 2018, Curly maple,
polyurethane, sterling silver, cast bronze, paint,
4" × 8" × 5" (10cm × 20cm × 13cm)
Collaborations
Ron Gerton has worked with other
wood artists in the U.S. and Europe,
many of whom were intrigued by
the idea of having their work incorporated with a bronze casting or
one of Ron’s turnings. Most notable
were the collaborations with Binh
Pho, a renowned artist who created
thin-walled vessels that he pierced
and painted to tell the story of his
upbringing and life in Vietnam.
Mystic Blooms (2016) couples five of
Binh’s artworks with a large bronze
casting made by Ron.
Binh Pho had some of his turned
wood vases converted to glass,
which would sometimes break,
leaving an incomplete vase. Binh
passed away in August 2017, and
in an homage to Binh, Ron made a
woodturner.org
(Above) Untitled, 2018, Curly maple, Binh Pho
broken glass vessel, bronze, sterling silver, paint,
13" × 13" × 4" (33cm × 33cm × 10cm)
(Left) Binh Pho and Ron Gerton
Collaboration, Mystic Blooms, 2016, Birch,
airbrushed paint, cast bronze, 47" × 10" × 10"
(1.2m × 25cm × 25cm)
45
VISCERAL SIMPLICITY:
THE BOLD WORK OF
RUBEN VAN DER SCHEER
Steve Loar
A
common acronym of the early
years of contemporary woodturning was KISS, which stands
for “Keep It Simple, Stupid.” Yes, there
were the early patterns in the work of
Al Stirt and the carved narrative compositions of Michelle Holzapfel, but
by and large turning was about wood
turned simply. It is not that anymore.
The current field is largely propelled
by decorative carving, piercing, pyrography, burning, color, texture, and
alternative materials such as resin. In
this context, the work of Dutch woodturner Ruben van der Scheer is quite
surprising. His pieces are simple in
the extreme—quite far from current
trends and beyond anything seen in
America, looking back or now. It’s as if
early 20th-century Modernism never
went away in the Netherlands.
Ruben claims he follows no formal
aesthetic, but his work takes us to the
very edges of the KISS mantra. Even
though his country’s borders don’t
touch any of the five Nordic countries,
from afar his work seems to express
the flavor of Nordic or Scandinavian
design—known for the use of natural
materials (especially wood), pale
colors, and restrained shapes. A somewhat sparer approach, Minimalism,
refers to an unadorned aesthetic with
the incorporation of industrial materials such as stainless steel, chrome, and
lacquered plastics.
Ruben’s Instagram account maintains a steady offering of subtly changing designs and experiments. I am
fascinated by his ability to consistently
Photo: Marjon Hoogervorst
46
American Woodturner June 2024
F E AT U R E
invent forms within an extremely
limited format, typically a circle or
rectangle executed in dry wood on
a faceplate and often with surfaces
directly off the tool. Ruben’s work is
about an intuitive search for art as
“pure form,” but his explanations
do sound quite like Minimalism. He
refers to Donald Judd, an American
artist who also refused to be labeled a
Minimalist but was a prolific writer in
explaining its sensibilities. Judd wrote,
“It isn’t necessary for a work to have a
lot of things to look at, to compare, to
analyze one by one, to contemplate.
The thing as a whole, its quality whole,
is what is interesting. The main things
are alone and are more intense, clear
and powerful.” Ruben adds, “Look at
waves in the ocean, on the lake, in a
pond. Feel the flow of riding a wind- or
surfboard, a skateboard, a bike. See the
fields of long grass or grain in motion
in the wind and especially how organically beech and plane trees grow. Like
the muscles in a body, the body in
general.” These connections—between
seeing the object as a whole, his experiences and perceptions of nature, and
the body’s responses to them—establish the crucial links to understanding
Ruben’s work.
Serving platters
with the offset
routed handle that
led Ruben to meet
his mentor, Maria
van Kesteren.
Mentor and student
Photo: Johannes Schwartz
Maria van Kesteren invited Ruben to exhibit with her at the 2018 Speculative Design
Archive exhibition at Rotterdam’s Nieuwe Instituut.
Freedom to create
Ruben’s longest thread of memory
from childhood is of inventing,
needing to find alternatives, creative problem-solving, and wanting
freedom. Despite his memory of
schooling being about fitting into a
mold, he received a degree in Human
Movement Sciences and then a master’s degree in Philosophy. As he
worked through his graduate thesis,
though, he realized he longed to do
something with his hands rather
than just his mind. This curiosity
about how things work led him to the
remarkable decision in 2010 to apply
to a respected but traditional cabinetmaking program at the Carpentry and
woodturner.org
Furniture College in Amsterdam. The
students there learn hand tools and
methods first, which requires a sharp
chisel. As he prepared for his first
sharpening exercise, he found himself
stiff and awkward from anxiety.
Grinding a chisel should be done
mindfully, relaxed, swaying slightly
with your whole body. His teacher
prompted him: “Look, listen, feel.”
Ultimately, the result was a gleeful
experience. He was seized by the
wonders of wood and woodworking,
and the idea of making things with
his hands became a true passion. This
type of interaction, between mind and
body, was exactly what he had studied
and now also employs in his other profession as a psychomotor therapist.
Even in his use of a router, it was
his search for freedom that obliged
him to use the tool in an unconventional way. For a circular cutting
board, Ruben shifted the template
slightly, creating a sharp point that
swelled to a wide edge, then faded
back to a point. Upon seeing this
peculiar edge, a woodworking colleague urged him to have a talk
with a local woodturner, Maria
van Kesteren, who was making a
living turning unconventional nonutilitarian forms and was showing
her work internationally. When he
47
Dents
(Left) Dents, 2020, Ash, Douglas fir, elm,
various sizes
(Middle) Dent, 2020, Ash, goldleaf,
4¾" × 4¾" × 1½" (12cm × 12cm × 38mm)
(Right) Dent, 2021, Ash (sandblasted), paint,
12" × 12" × 2¾" (30cm × 30cm × 7cm)
finally visited, Maria was welcoming
and quite intrigued by the routed
edge Ruben had achieved. How had
he created this edge? Surely not on
a lathe. This led to ongoing visits,
coffee, and conversations—but not
about woodturning. He found her
home filled with various examples
of Minimalist art, many by notable
artists. While they did discuss craft
and making, they mostly talked
about art and being artists. Maria’s
work wasn’t really about woodturning, but about the making of form.
Editor’s Note: To learn more about
Maria van Kesteren, see the accompanying article by Thimo te Duits on page 52.
Once he had finished school,
Ruben designed and made furniture and cabinetry, but he often lost
himself in details and prototypes.
“Maria’s greatest wish was to pass
on her knowledge of a dying craft,
as well as her highly individual
approach to the material, to the
next generation of woodworkers
while she still could,” he explains.
To provide inspiration, Maria gifted
a large quantity of her uncompleted
work to Ruben. Rather than modify
the pieces, he used the unaltered
turnings to create several upright
sculptures. The strength of these
works was such that Maria invited
him to exhibit with her at the prestigious 2018 Speculative Design Archive
exhibition at Rotterdam’s Nieuwe
Instituut. The conversations with
Maria, her success and, undeniably,
her persistence nurtured Ruben as
he grew dissatisfied with his chosen
pursuits. Maria’s dedication to nonfunctional work and her search for
pure form motivated Ruben to stop
making useful things and begin his
own exploration of non-functional
turned forms. This approach offered
him the freedom that he longed for.
Truth in form
Ruben’s designs arise from his search
for “truth” in his forms, a certainty
of flow in the creation of the form,
like “riding the wave.” He wants his
personal sense of flow to translate
to the viewer’s perception of the
whole. He may make an occasional
scribble to note a general idea, but
there is no sketching, drawing, or
calculating that would rationally
explain the form. For Ruben, it must
be experienced; what is important is
the emotional response, not objective
reactions. Thus, each piece is a search
for pure form that is utterly simple.
Ruben is also intrigued by what is
absent. The freedom that is inherent in this search for “truth” is what
excites him and lures him on.
Ruben’s Instagram account reveals
an ongoing quest. His style arises
from a repetition of these inquiries, but they are ever evolving and
are never set repeated designs. A
48
“knowing” can be observed in his
Dents series, which can be wall or
table pieces. Over time, the Dents
have developed from pleasant lumps
to graceful hillocks rising gracefully
from a static surface. They come
smooth or with sandblasted textures,
in muted tones, and in sets where one
dent relates to another, with the grain
adding continuity. Crucial to the
viewing experience is learning that
there is a corresponding depression in
the back, which establishes a mystery,
especially for an audience ever-less
knowledgeable about what wood is
or can do. We know the impression
is back there as we respond to the
front. With a flat back, there would be
no indent and simply a mass on the
front, with our body responding to
this difference.
Ruben’s spin tops are another good
example of this search. They began
life as tops, left attached to a wasteblock only until the paint was dry. As
he made more of them, the inspiration for his Twist of Life tops developed, where a refined base is now
part of an interactive art piece. They
ask, Did you buy this piece to collect
it as a sculpture with an embodied
potential for spinning, or did you buy
it to physically interact with it, snap it,
and release that potential in an actual
spin—a spinning that simultaneously
makes the top an isolated object that
now has a useless wasteblock base?
American Woodturner June 2024
F E AT U R E
But is pure form ever actually
accomplished? When pressed on the
concept of intuition and freedom,
Ruben offers lekker, a Dutch word
meaning “tasty,” or het smaakt goed
meaning “it tastes right.” If we each
“look, listen, feel,” that knowledge
will provide the rigor for excellence—
and a good taste. In woodturning, it
is what is required before an object is
sandblasted, scorched, or textured if
it is to be a truly refined form. This is
what we desire and respond to in any
art form. How does a painting affect
you? Is a sculpture interesting in
multiple views or just one? Is there an
awkward relationship or placement?
Or maybe there is a junction where
one sweep meets another, rather than
one continuous passage. Should it
have been a bit taller, or wider, or in
another color? Or maybe the proportions are simply lumpish. What does
“tastes good” feel like and could it
taste better? Another way to think
about it is “resonance,” or a quality of
reverberation. Does the form have the
best “taste,” or is there some subtle
element missing that makes it simply
another object, rather than something natural and complete?
Try it, test it
Another aspect of Ruben’s methodology is “try it, test it.” He will take
some of his pieces home to view for
a while, to judge them, to be critical
but emotionally responsive. Drawing,
Twist of
Life tops
Twist of Life (Tops),
2022, Various
woods, paint
Spinning Tops,
2019, Various
woods, paint
calculating, or theorizing about
whether a piece might look good in
black, pink, or red, for example, is
inadequate. He must confirm how
it actually affects a viewer. Try it,
do it. This approach is apparent in
Ruben’s post(c)arts. These are turned
forms that even with their thickness
conform to the Dutch postal code and
are mailed worldwide. The recipients
accept any scuffs or dents as part of
the life of the piece.
In making the post(c)arts, Ruben
develops his creativity because to
be profitable, he must be skillful
and efficient in both imagining and
responding. His turning skills are
honed through the focused repetition of strokes. And what we see in
his work is a wide-ranging inquiry
into what forms might lie within
a solid block. We see examples of
shape, color, and texture that may
or may not be pure form. Some may
not have lekker, not pass this gauntlet, never inspire others. But the
post(c)arts are truly visceral, which is
Ruben’s main contention. It’s about
responding with the right side of
the brain. He finds the maximum
amount of freedom in work where
anything is possible within a few
constraints. There are no theories: he
must simply “do it, test it.”
Post(c)arts
(Left and middle) Post(c)arts, front and
back. At about ¾" (19mm) thick, these
turned “postcards” are fully functional
and can be mailed.
(Right) One of Ruben’s post(c)arts being
mailed via the Dutch postal system.
woodturner.org
49
Scale and proportion
An oft-cited principle of turning is
that all cuts are either a cove, bead,
or fillet. In Ruben’s disks, we can
see that there is room for a variety
of new relationships for these
shapes. Coves and beads function somewhat differently when
in a circle or on a wall or even on
a table surface. In a circle, large
or small, they are visceral—you
feel it in your gut. Through this
interaction with the work, Ruben
acknowledges the relationship
between object and viewer.
Ruben is also committed to the
ever-present hole in the middle
as an enigmatic void. This is one
area where Ruben is traveling
alone, apart from Minimalism,
Wall Objects, 2022, Ash, ink, paint, oil, largest: 35"
(90cm) diameter
given that Judd once wrote, “There
is no hierarchy nor preexisting
ideas, we have the absence of a
focal point.” Ruben’s education in
psychomotor therapy gives him
particularly compelling credentials
in discussing this topic, one that
some might find a bit “woo-woo.”
If his sculptures are placed high
on a wall, they are perceived in a
wholly objective manner, solely
visual. But when Ruben’s larger
objects are placed near chest level,
they can establish a more direct,
even bodily or visceral, response.
On the other hand, his smaller
pieces may resonate more to the
viewer’s hands, eliciting the urge to
hold or touch the work.
Ruben is a master of scale and
proportion, and this supports his
observations regarding resonance.
Just as other artists use scale to
elicit different viewer responses,
Ruben accomplishes similar effects
with his wall pieces. In art, scale
refers to the size of one whole
object in relation to another whole
object. Proportion, however, refers
to the relationship between the
different sized parts within one
whole composition. Human beings
have an innate and finely tuned
perception of proportion. The
use of color can neutralize some
visual cues, specifically proportion, when covering all but the
boldest grains, while natural grain
gives the knowledgeable viewer
a reference to approximate size.
Grain, a hand, or a larger grouping
can provide a sense of true scale.
Ruben’s intention is for the viewer’s
eye to travel inward, toward the
center, the hole, and not outward.
Whether on a small or large disk
or on a rectangle, his selective use
of proportion is critical. You won’t
find photos of Ruben’s pieces where
your eyes move outward from the
center, simply because those efforts
50
are revised or discarded. Ruben
relies on the idea that our objective
judgements, or those of drawings
and calculations, won’t necessarily correspond to what is viscerally
seen and experienced.
At work
Regarding his modest studio, Ruben
reminisces, “What inspired me
about [Maria van Kesteren’s] humble
studio setting was that in order to
make really great art, there is no
need for new stuff, big machines,
or fancy tools, just technique and
a free mind, a vision, and creativity. It helps me to not get caught up
in the technical side too much and
keep my focus on form, shape, and
intuition.”
Ruben typically uses elm, ash, or
sycamore that has been kiln dried.
His favorite is elm for its smooth
cutting. He uses single slabs, so the
continuity of the grain is part of
the form’s truth. He can get kilndried material in 2" and 3" (5-8cm)
thicknesses, up to 36" (1m) wide.
Quite near him is a wood processor and seller who slices and dries
local and sustainable wood for his
business in natural-edged slabs—a
wonderful family business with lots
of Dutch woods to choose from.
Ruben will also buy material from
a commercial dealer and, occasionally, is gifted wood from a local
cemetery that is something of an
arboretum.
Opportunities
Ruben’s year began with the exciting news that he had been granted
a scholarship for three days of
private professional development
at Glenn Lucas’s Woodturning
Study Centre in Co. Carlow,
Ireland. Additionally, late last
year he received an arts grant
from the Netherlands government
that will allow him to investigate
American Woodturner June 2024
F E AT U R E
Scale and
proportion
(Left) Wall objects, disks of varying sizes
with a central hole as a focal point,
resonate with viewers in a visceral way.
(Middle) Wall object showing the
importance of proportion when
considering relative features within a piece.
(Right) Relatively smaller disks, wall
pieces with Ruben’s signature central
hole as a focal point.
some of the collaborative enterprises already taking place in his
country. Ruben is interested in
establishing a studio where nonartists can work, even though they
face various challenges. In the
Netherlands, these individuals are
referred to as “people with a distance to the job (or labor) market”
in that they can’t hold a typical job.
In the U.S., these individuals might
be regarded as outsiders, untrained
idiosyncratic artists who are typically unconnected to the conventional worlds of art or craft—not by
choice but by circumstance. Ruben
envisions these people contributing in meaningful ways to the
making of fine craft, not kitsch or
tchotchkes.
There is a design-based ceramics company, Cor Unum, that has
already implemented this initiative. The company “takes social
and cultural responsibility for
the legacy of the ceramic crafts.
Everyone deserves a place, everyone has got a talent and anyone
can contribute to make the world
somewhat nicer.” Ruben is interested in obtaining a residency with
a like-minded company where he
can interact with the designers and
staff but, in particular, with the
special contributors—including
woodturner.org
how they might respond to his own
work. An exciting possibility is that
some of his work could be created in
other materials.
These are surprising choices, but
similar to others Ruben has made.
They would certainly expand and
diversify his work in unknown
ways. So this year looks to be one of
growth and diversification as Ruben
is challenged by other art and craft
professionals and, hopefully, by
people “with a distance to the job
(or labor) market.”
For more, visit rubenvdscheer.nl or
follow Ruben on Instagram,
@rubenvanderscheer.
Steve Loar is a sculptor, teacher,
author, mentor, and woodturner living
in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He uses
wood, especially wooden bowls, to
create abstracted compositions that
are typically colorful and narrative.
Thirty-six years of university teaching
give him a depth of expertise in
design, creativity, collaboration,
and woodworking.
Ruben’s
studio
Ruben van der
Sheer’s modest
but efficient
and organized
studio space.
51
Photos by Gallery Marsden Woo,
London, except where noted.
D
MARIA
VAN
KESTEREN:
VARIATIONS
ON A THEME
Thimo te Duits
Maria van Kesteren,
1999, at the Gallery
Marsden Woo, London.
Photo: Philip Sayer
52
utch woodturner Maria
van Kesteren (19332020) had a love-hate
relationship with wood. She
disliked its characteristic features, such as color variations,
grain, and knots. Since 1962,
she invariably coated her turnings with a thin layer of acrylic
paint to emphasize the objects’
distinct narrative form. She
worked on collections, or series,
based on a single concept that
incorporated variations of
shape. She worked as large as
her lathe allowed and at modest
sizes. Maria was content with
both possibilities, as long as the
expressiveness was guaranteed.
Each object had to be perfect.
Material and form
In the beginning of her woodturning activities, after lessons
from Henk van Tierum and Nel
Punt, she worked with tropical
hardwoods. But she soon distanced herself from this material because she found it too
romantic and started making
painted objects from native
woods such as elm, maple,
stone beech, and lime. For
jewelry, she used palm wood
and acrylic. Her forms typically
are short and wide and stand
solidly on a stable base, but
very occasionally Maria would
incorporate some lift. Besides
bowl shapes, she turned lots
of boxes.
In 1992, Maria introduced
taller objects in the shape of
a tree trunk, which are made
of both wood and crystal. She
disliked the transparent nature
American Woodturner June 2024
F E AT U R E
of glass and therefore applied
opaque colors. She also developed
ceramic vases. Despite her dislike
of wood’s common features, it
remained her favorite material to
work, which she did with great
craftsmanship to achieve forms
that were unique to the international field.
Maria van Kesteren took great pleasure
in mentoring Ruben van der Scheer,
teaching him the trade.
Sensibilities
Maria van Kesteren sought to
connect with abstract visual art
such as Zero and Minimalist Art.
She also had a fondness for strict
Modernist design from the 1920s
and 1970s. As if to prove the
conviction of her own taste, she
chose to reside in a 19 th -century
house in Hilversum. Her taste
was held strictly and was full of
respect for the makers of objects
she admired. For decades, she
advised the iconic craft gallery
Kapelhuis in Amersfoort, and she
took great pleasure in mentoring
Ruben van der Scheer, teaching
him the trade.
As I have mentioned, Maria
worked through various themes
since the 1960s: half-spheres,
plump forms, upward forms,
sucking forms, dyke forms,
craters, and tree trunks, to name
a few. She leaves behind an
impressive and unique oeuvre
that found its way worldwide
to passionate collectors and
Rising Form, 1981-1982, Wood, acrylic
paint, 3½" × 11" (9cm × 28cm)
woodturner.org
A solo exhibition at the Gallery Marsden Woo, London, 1999.
museums. A lengthy list of
international exhibitions and
awards fell to her over four
decades. The latest retrospective
was at the Kunstmuseum Den
Haag (The Hague, Netherlands),
which displayed the crowning
glory of her artistic life.
Wrinkling Form, 1986-1987, Wood,
acrylic paint, 2" × 10" (5cm × 25cm)
Thimo te Duits is a Dutch art historian,
curator, author, and editor. He worked for
the National Glasmuseum (1990-1995,
Leerdam) and Museum Boymans Van
Beuningen (1995-2015, Rotterdam). For the
last ten years, Thimo has been focusing his
work exclusively on art and design. He is
an avid collector of the work of Maria van
Kesteren, whom he knew very well.
Variation on Circular Form, 1982-1984,
Wood, acrylic paint, 2½" × 9½"
(6cm × 24cm)
Variation on Circular Form,
1982-1984, Wood, acrylic paint,
Largest: 3" × 8¼" (8cm × 21cm)
53
GMembers’ Gallery
GALLERY
Bruce Lee Jones, Maryland
I have been involved with art for most of my life. I was a cabinet maker for
thirty years, so working with wood is in my blood. I also have worked in
acrylic, sterling silver, ceramic, as well as painting with acrylics on canvas.
When I started turning in 2017, I wanted to show that I can make higher-end
pieces without spending a great deal of money on equipment and tooling.
Most of the pieces shown here were turned using modest (not professional
level) equipment. It is also important to me to strive to make each project
unique. About eighty percent of the carving on my turned pieces is done with
hand tools such as knives and gouges. When I need to do power carving, I use
a rotary tool with a flexible shaft with bits and burs. My goal is to continue
adding my painting, silversmithing, acrylic, pyrography, and carving skills to
my turned work.
Sinuous, 2021, Teak, cherry, pyrography, lacquer,
8" × 12" (20cm × 30cm)
Flower of Life, 2023,
Red elm, pommele
sapele, tigers eye stones,
pyrography, lacquer,
6" × 13" (15cm × 33cm)
Can We Stop All the Tears?, 2022, Teak, walnut, acrylic, dye, metallic
powder, lacquer, 5" × 15" (13cm × 38cm)
Nautilus, 2021, Sapele, curly
maple, metallic paint, 9" × 9"
(23cm × 23cm)
King Nammu’s Decanter, 2023, Padauk,
canarywood, African blackwood,
sanding sealer, 18" × 12" × 8"
(46cm × 30cm × 20cm)
After turning the hollow form, the
author hand-carved thirty-two flutes
into the main body. The spout is made
from two pieces that were carved all
the way through, so you can pour
liquid from this vessel.
54
American Woodturner June 2024
GALLERY
William A. Clark, III, Rhode Island and Florida
My journey in woodturning began at the age of 8, creating small wooden cabinet drawer
knobs. Many years later, upon retirement, I graduated to turning large bed posts on a 12'
(3.7m) antique lathe. Eventually, I shifted my focus to crafting bowls and sizable vessels.
One such vessel stands out—a six-month labor of thought and design that won a 1stplace prize at the 2024 Florida State Fair. The vessel stands 38" (97cm) tall and features
staved pieces with the grain running vertically. Assembly required two people and a twopart epoxy that allowed for extended working time. The choice of materials significantly
impacts its aesthetic appeal. Tiger maple, known for its distinctive figuring and iridescence, creates a dynamic visual effect. The interplay of light and dark stripes adds depth
and character. In contrast, black walnut—with its rich, chocolate-brown hues—provides a
striking complement that enhances the piece’s elegance.
Nature’s Artwork on Display, 2024, Tiger
maple, black walnut, polyurethane, 38" × 19"
(97cm × 48cm)
Photo: Randy Saffles
Scott Wishart, Pennsylvania
After dabbling in woodworking for most of my adult life, I was finally exposed to woodturning about eight years ago. After witnessing someone turning on a lathe and seeing
those shaving fly, I was completely hooked. From shaping to sanding and finishing,
I was totally mesmerized by the entire process. Shortly after, I bought my first lathe,
and the obsession started. Learning woodturning became my focus. I joined my local
woodturning club and attended a few local symposia. I was like a sponge absorbing
as much information as I could. Spindles, bowls, hollowing, resin hybrids… I found the
whole thing fascinating.
After several years of woodturning, I now practice “treecycling” as much as possible, primarily using discarded local hardwoods for my projects. My main interest is still learning
something new. My goal is not to be better than anyone else, but to be better than I used to be.
Woodturning has become a therapeutic process where I create things that make me happy.
StarBurst, 2022, Maple (carved and
torched), 5" × 7" (13cm × 18cm)
My goal is not to be better than anyone else, but to be better than I used to be.
Moon Vase, 2023, Red oak, Danish oil, 10" × 5"
(25cm × 13cm)
woodturner.org
Springs, 2023, Boxelder maple, texturing, acrylic
paint, 6½" × 7" (17cm × 18cm)
X-Wing Sphere, 2023, Mallee burl, urethane
resin, walnut, 5" (13cm) diameter
55
G
GALLERY
Chuck Goldstein, Wisconsin
I began my woodturning adventure in 2003 by making a bowl from lumber left over from a
grandfather clock that I had made. I discovered segmented bowls about ten years later and have
made closed-segment, open-segment, and tangential-segment forms, as well as bowls with rings in
them. I like to make forms that have unique shapes and are aesthetically pleasing.
With Bubble Bowl, I was challenged to create segments with a diagonal stripe that went perfectly from corner to corner. Each segment had to be carefully cut from long strips. The colored
circles are a nice complement to the strong diagonal and horizontal lines and give the piece a
light, “bubbly” look, reminiscent of champagne.
Bubble Bowl, 2023, Walnut, birdseye maple, wenge, yellowheart,
purpleheart, leopardwood, padauk, varnish, 10" × 7" (25cm × 18cm)
John Sisak, Michigan
I started woodturning about seven years ago and joined the Huron Valley Wood Turners
(Dexter, Michigan) to learn from some of their club members. During the pandemic,
our chapter offered an online demo by Craig Timmerman on how to turn a torus bud
vase. I finally got around to turning several of these forms. Because my woodturning
experience has included segmented bowls, I decided to try a segmented torus shape.
Infinity Spiral is segmented in two dimensions—eight segments comprising each of the
2"- (5cm-) diameter rings and 24 rings comprising the torus’s 8" (20cm) diameter.
Infinity Spiral, 2023, Black walnut, maple, walnut oil, 8" × 8" × 2" (20cm × 20cm × 5cm)
Perry Balog, New Jersey
Growing up in an environment of craftsmen, inventors, and artists led me at an early age to work
with my hands. I started turning wood at the age of 10 and, much later, completed a bachelor’s
degree in industrial arts and a master’s degree in fine arts. My passion has been to create custom,
one-of-a-kind pieces for clients and to share my knowledge and experience with students at Kean
University (Union, New Jersey).
As a woodturner and artist, I have always drawn inspiration from the world around me. The evolution of my latest series stemmed from the Covid pandemic. The spread of the deadly omicron,
delta, and alpha viruses inspired me to create a unique series of turnings. The augmented edges represent the effect of the viruses’ spread, and as new variants evolved, I added layers. Avoiding gaps
between the layers and short grain during shaping was a primary challenge.
Alpha #2, 2023 Cherry, curly maple, rosewood, lignum vitae, wipe-on polyurethane, wax, 8½" × 3" (22cm × 8cm)
(Left) Alpha #1, 2021, Mahogany,
curly maple, ebony, magnets, wipe-on
polyurethane, wax, 3½" × 12½"
(9cm × 32cm)
(Middle) Delta #1, 2021, Spalted maple,
black walnut, wipe-on polyurethane,
wax, 9" × 6½" (23cm × 17cm)
(Right) Omicron #1, 2019, Cherry, wipe-on
polyurethane, 3½" × 9" (9cm × 23cm)
56
American Woodturner June 2024
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QUALITY
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American Woodturner June 2024
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American Woodturner June 2024
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American Woodturner June 2024
Mike Mahoney is doing remote
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Also, check out Mike’s
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CONTACT MIKE AT:
“Thanks for your remote
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The technology you’re using
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American Woodturner June 2024
S T U A R T B AT T Y T O O L S . C O M
advertisingindex
American Association of Woodturners ............ 69/70
651-484-9094 - woodturner.org
GluBoost ......................................................................63
201-331-3730 - gluboost.com
RIKON Power Tools....................................................57
978-528-5380 - rikontools.com
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts ...................66
865-436-5860 - arrowmont.org
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970-241-2827 - exoticwood.biz
Robust Tools ...............................................................64
608-924-1133 - turnrobust.com
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Southwest Association of Turners - SWAT ............60
817-716-5950 - swaturners.org
John Jordan Woodturning .......................................69
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Linden Publishing .....................................................68
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Lyle Jamieson Woodturning LLC. ...........................63
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Clark’s Art Beyond ....................................................67
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Craft Supplies USA ....................................................63
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Dayacom Industrial Co., Ltd......................................61
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Easy Inlay.....................................................................68
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Ellsworth Studios.......................................................67
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To advertise in American Woodturner, contact Erica
Nelson, 763-497-1778, erica.nelson@ewald.com.
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73
DANIEL
MICHALIK
NEW YORK
Turning Cork
In my New York City studio, Daniel Michalik Furniture Design focuses
on researching and expanding overlooked materials to create objects
that explore the intersections of material, culture, and manufacturing.
Recently, we have explored the secrets of cork, an engaging material with
vast implications for healthier perspectives on design, agriculture, and
production. Cork is a sustainable material, regenerating every nine years
for harvest. The Portuguese regions of cork production hold centuries-old
farming and manufacturing traditions that can teach us how objects can
be made more responsibly. Our objects reflect a love for the origin and
context of material.
Experiments evolve into products that engage form, color, and function.
We have supplied products and solutions for clients worldwide, and our
work has been exhibited internationally.
For more, visit danielmichalik.com and follow Daniel on Instagram,
@danielmichalik.
Cork Bowl Trio, 2021, Cork, Each: 3" × 12"
(8cm × 30cm)
Photo: Andrew Longo
Inside This Issue!
Learn more about cork as a turning
material in Scott Hendricks’
informative article on page 36.
And see more examples of Daniel
Michalik’s work on page 40.